Angel In My Heart
by Grim Wolf
Summary: AU Pre OOTP , Lily's eyes are always sad and James want's to change that. at the end of 6th year the Marauders save her from Malfoy and become closer to her, especially James, once tragedy strikes. They begin to see what was there all along, Love
1. The End Of Sixth Year

**A/N: Well this is my first Lily and James Fic so please go easy on me! Please Read and Review! I hope you enjoy it! I'll have the next chapter up in about a week probably.**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Harry Potter…. My fairy godmother died early this year so currently I am not J.K. Rowling though I wish I was… maybe I should go looking for my magic lamp… it's got to be around here somewhere…. Oh Bloody Hell it's broken! I give up!

(Revised as of 2011/08/16)

Chapter 1: The End Of Sixth Year

It was the last week of Hogwarts, the end of sixth year for Lily Evans. She sighed as she walked down the corridor towards the library, carrying her final assignment for History of Magic and book bag filled with quills, ink, and extra parchment. She couldn't seem to make herself do this assignment, no matter how hard she tried, but it was always like this during the last week at Hogwarts for her.

In one week's time she would be heading back home, the place she least wanted to be and avoided at nearly all costs. Every year, since she had been at Hogwarts, Lily had opted to stay at the school year round instead of going home during the holidays. It wasn't that she didn't love her parents, she missed them dearly; however, there was Petunia, her older sister that she had every reason to worry about.

To say that Petunia was cruel was putting it nicely. Petunia detested the very presence of Lily and went out of her way to cause Lily as much pain and suffering as she possibly could. It hadn't always been this way though. Before discovering she was a witch, Lily had gotten along very well with her sister, had looked up to her, and loved her, but that had all changed as soon as Lily received her Hogwarts letter at eleven years old. Petunia was a muggle, as were their parents. Lily was the only one who had magic in the family. Her parents had been so proud when she had gotten her letter, but Petunia had turned on Lily without a second thought and it had hurt Lily deeply, causing her to close herself off to the majority of the world.

Lily was so absorbed in her thoughts, her dread of going home, that she wasn't paying attention to where she was going and collided with someone, dropping her assignment and book bag. Embarrassment flooded her as she blinked and looked up to who she'd collided with.

"I'm so…" Lilly started to apologize but was cut off by an angry snarl.

"Watch where you're going you stupid filthy mudblood!"

Lily looked up to see Lucius Malfoy sneering down at her. She cringed and tried to move away from him, fear flooding through her as he began to advance on her. Her wand was in her bag, there was no way she would reach it before he attacked her. She backed up another step and tripped over her robes and fell hard on the floor, a small cry escaped her as she began to panic. She was in trouble. She couldn't get to her wand. She was completely at his mercy. Malfoy smirked down at her evilly and she cringed fearfully as he took out his wand.

"You shouldn't have bumped into me mudblood," he sneered, pointing his wand directly at her face. Lily closed her eyes, waiting for the curse and inevitable pain, but it never came. She heard Malfoy yell, and opened her eyes to find three extremely tall boys standing in front of her. Where had they come from? There had been no one but Malfoy only a moment ago…

She peered up at them, but couldn't see who they were, they all had their backs to her. The tallest one walked forward towards Malfoy, and finally she had a glimpse of the other two boys. Lily blinked, barely resisting the urge to rub her eyes in disbelief. The two boys left standing in front of her were Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, two of the Marauders. Lily stared wide eyed at the boy who'd approached Malfoy. If Remus and Sirius were in front of her, that had to mean that—

"Get out of here now you scum," James Potter's voice was low and unnerving as he levelled his wand at Malfoy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ James P.O.V.

James was walking back from the kitchens with Sirius and Remus after a late night snack. The house elves had been happy to feed them until their bellies could take no more. Now that they were stuffed, the three of them were heading back to the Gryffindor common room. It was now the last week of school for the year and the Marauders needed to work out the finer details of their last week of pranks. After five years, the stakes were high. They had pulled off so many pranks, mostly on Slytherins, specifically Malfoy and Snape, and James didn't want to disappoint the Marauder's fans.

The Marauders were also planning a special prank, as was tradition, for the end of school feast.

"I don't know about you guys, but I still like the idea of shrinking all the Slytherins down to the size of leprechauns— " James stopped midsentence as he heard a cry of alarm.

"You shouldn't have bumped into me mudblood," Malfoy's voice carried down the empty corridor. James took off around the corner, Sirius and Remus not far behind. They were soon greeted with the sight of Malfoy advancing on a girl with fiery red hair. James pulled out his wand and advanced on Malfoy. Malfoy seeing James and the other Marauders backed away. James placed himself in front of the girl and Remus and Sirius came up on either side of him. Anger coursed through him as he realized who the girl was. It was Lily Evans, the top student in their year, and his fellow prefect.

Humming with anger, James advanced on Malfoy, backing him up until he had nowhere else to go, and levelled his wand at him. James glared at Malfoy, who appeared to cower slightly, knowing he was outnumbered.

"Get out of her now you scum," James said, his tone dangerous and threatening. Malfoy audiably gulped and James lowered his voice so only Malfoy would hear.

"If I ever hear you calling Lily a Mudblood, or catch you within ten yards of her, you will regret the day you ever stepped foot in Hogwarts, you pathetic excuse for a wizard."

Malfoy's eyes widened slightly, but soon smirked, regaining his composure and walked away. James watched him go, willing himself to calm down enough so he could speak again.

James turned around and walked back towards Lily who was looking up at him in disbelief. Sirius and Remus had bent down to pick up her things and were looking at her sympathetically. James knelt down in front of her, but she quickly turned her gaze down, not meeting his eyes. Her cheeks were flushed with obvious embarrassment. James put his hand on her shoulder and she jumped.

"Lily," James said, but she didn't look up. "Lily are you ok?" he asked. Lily was shaking as she slowly looked up at him, looking miserable. Lily's bright green eyes were filled with unshed tears of embarrassment and humiliation. James offered her his hand and she took it, letting him pull her up from the ground.

"Are you ok Lily?" James asked again, and she nodded, looking away from him. James frowned as he watched her swipe at her eyes; he wasn't convinced she was ok. She was still shaking.

"What happened? Why did Malfoy advance on you?" he asked gently, still holding onto her hand. Lily's face flushed a deeper shade of red and tried to pull her hand out of his without success. After a long moment, she finally looked up at him.

"I was just heading down to the library to work on my final assignment for History of Magic," she said softly, looking uncomfortable. "I wasn't watching where I was going, I was preoccupied with other thoughts, and I collided with him," she said.

"I tried to apologize, I didn't even know at the time who it was. He advanced on me and I stepped backwards, tripping over my robes and fell. You three showed up right after I fell," she finished dropping her gaze for a moment and then looked up him with a small smile. "Thank you for stopping him James, I wouldn't have been able to get to my wand in time." James smiled at her, waving off her thanks.

"Don't mention it," he said.

"Yeah," Sirius piped up, startling James and Lily slightly. "Saving beautiful damsels in distress is what we do," Sirius said gallantly, bowing to her and winking. Lily blushed to the roots of her hair. James grinned at the sight.

"I thought the Marauders only went around pranking Slytherins," Lily said quietly, smiling with a bit more confidence. James and Remus chuckled as Sirius pretended to look wounded.

"Lily, Lily, Lily, is that all you see us as?" Sirius asked.

"That's enough Padfoot," James said before turning back to Lily.

"Don't mind him, he's a bit of a fool," James said.

"Hey! I resent that—ouch! Remus what did you do that for?" Sirius whined. Lily was now truly smiling, which made James grin more.

"Do you want to come back with us to the Gryffindor tower?" James asked. Lily looked up at him and nodded, the smile slowly slipping away from her face.

"Sure, I'll just work on the assignment in the common room," she said. Remus handed her stuff that he and Sirius had picked up for her. Lily thanked him, and then looked at James.

"Um, James?" she said.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I kind of need my hand back," she said softly, looking down to where he was still holding her hand. James felt his cheeks heat up, and he let go of her hand, running his hand through his hair in embarrassment.

"Sorry about that," he said, and with that the four of them made their way back to Gryffindor Tower. James watched Lily as she walked silently along beside them, her mind clearly elsewhere. Something was bothering her, and he wanted to find out what it was.

___**Last day**___

The rest of the week, after the Marauders had saved her from Malfoy, passed by far too quickly for Lily's liking and it was now the last day of school. When she had come into the common room with the Marauders a week ago she had felt James watching her, studying her, as if he knew something was bothering her. What she couldn't figure out was why he would care. She had stuck to her usual routine for the rest of the week, but oddly, wherever she went the Marauders were not far behind her, shadowing her every move. She didn't get the feeling that they were stalking her, just protecting her. But why would the most popular group in school have taken an interest in her?

Light poured over her face as she slowly began to wake up. She groaned, her bed was warm and comfy, she had no desire to get up and leave the school… maybe if she just pretended she was asleep no one would bother her. Her covers were suddenly snatched away and her eyes flew open and Lily could hear laughter coming from beside her bed. Opening one eye she spotted Neona's smiling face, her hazel eyes alight with mirth as she held Lily's covers out of reach. Lily glared at her friend who didn't even blink an eye, continuing to laugh. Lily turned away and attempted to ignore her best, and only friend, pulling her pillow over her head. Neona was too much of a morning person for Lily's liking, especially today.

"Lily you need to get up so we can go downstairs for breakfast. You can't leave without eating because I won't let you," Neona said, her voice gentle but firm. She knew all to well that Lily was dreading leaving Hogwarts, seeing Petunia, and having to spend the whole summer with her horrible sister. Lily groaned, still not getting up. Neona shook the bed, jumping on the end of it until Lily finally responded.

"I don't want to get up," Lily mumbled sitting up in her bed. Neona smiled at her sympathetically.

"I know you don't, and I know that you don't want to leave Hogwarts today, but life does go on you know. Before you know it we'll be back laughing as the Marauders are back reeking havoc and saving a certain damsel in distress all next year," Neona teased winking at Lily suggestively. Lily flushed scarlet and chucked a pillow at Neona who ducked just in time. Neona just laughed and walked off to the bathroom to get ready to leave. Lily sighed and got out of bed and headed off to shower.

Throughout the last week since the Malfoy incident, Lily had attempted to avoid contact with the Marauders. She was still extremely embarrassed over the whole ordeal, but she had been unable to shake them. For some reason they didn't want to forget about her, which completely baffled Lily to no end. Why would they want to hang around the shy, bookworm Lily Evans? They were the most popular group in the school, and she was far from it, so why did they bother?

She showered and dressed herself in a pair of black capri's and a green tank top. She proceeded to comb out her long red hair which was still soaking wet, but already curling itself into masses of tight, dripping wet, dark red ringlets. Lily sighed. She hated her curly hair and always hid it with a straightening spell or pulled it up in a tight ponytail or braid. No one besides her parents and sister, not even Neona, knew that she had naturally, extremely curly hair. She looked into the mirror and came to a final decision. It was time for something different. She pulled out her wand and pointed it at her dripping wet hair. Instantly her hair was its natural mass of shiny red ringlets. Lily smiled, satisfied with herself. 'Maybe the Marauders won't recognise me,' she thought. But was that really what she wanted? She pushed that thought aside quickly. After casting one last look at herself in the mirror, she walked out of the bathroom and down to the common room.

Neona was sitting on the couch in the common room reading a muggle book she had borrowed from Lily. A noise sounded at the stairs and she looked up from the book she was reading to see all four of the Marauders entering the common room talking and laughing. Sirius looked up and saw Neona sitting on the couch and walked over to her, the others following him. Sirius grinned charmingly at her as he stopped next to where she sat on the couch. Neona just rolled her eyes at him smiling, she'd known him way too long, it was almost like they were brother and sister.

"Hey Neona; so why aren't you down at the Great Hall already? Waiting for someone? Maybe your best buddy in the whole wide world," Sirius said throwing his arm around her shoulders grinning and winked at her. Neona bit back a laugh and nodded, she knew exactly what Sirius was implying.

"Yeah Siri, I'm waiting for Lily to come down so we can go down together," she said innocently and Sirius pretended to look hurt. Neona pushed him playfully before looking over at James to see his reaction to the mention of Lily. James's head snapped up at the mention of Lily's name and he smiled at Neona.

"Do you mind if we wait with you? Then we can all go down to the Great Hall together," James suggested. Neona nodded and smiled amusedly down into her book once more. Neona hadn't told Lily, but she and Sirius had been talking more lately. It wasn't as though Neona and Sirius didn't do that already, but the difference in these conversations was that Sirius had been filling her in on what had happened the night Malfoy attacked Lily, and on James' growing obsession with her red-headed best friend. Sirius had noticed the changes in James over the last week. Neona had noticed these changes in James as well, and in Lily. Together, Neona and Sirius had come to a basic mutual conclusion that there was a blossoming relationship between their two friends.

A noise came from the stairs and everyone turned and looked up to see Lily walking into the common room. Neona watched as James' just stared at Lily. Neona grinned, she knew Lily was this gorgeous, Lily just hid it really well. She had a tendency to fade into the background, completely diverting any attention towards her.

"Nice curling spell Lily," Neona praised. She'd never seen Lily's hair like that before. Lily looked up from the ground smiling at Neona smiling shyly, like she hadn't told Neona something. Neona raised a questioning eyebrow and Lily flushed slightly.

"Well actually it isn't a curling spell." Lily said quietly looking at the floor. Neona looked at Lily confused.

"It's not? Then how..?" Neona asked in disbelief. Lily shook her head, her curls bouncing as she did so.

"It's my natural curl; I use a straightening spell on it all of the time. During the summer, I use lots of Muggle products such as gels and sprays to keep it under control. I also just tie it back into a tight bun or braid," Lily said. The others were speechless.

"You should wear your hair like that more often. It looks really pretty on you," James blurted suddenly, then turned slightly pink as he seemed to register what he had just said. But the others took no notice and just nodded in agreement with James and Lily blushed.

"Well let's go down to breakfast," Neona said changing the subject. The others all nodded in agreement. Lily smiled at Neona, silently thanking her for taking the attention off of her. Neona winked at her and got up pulling Lily out of the portrait hole with the Marauders following behind them.

Breakfast was just starting when the six arrived in the Great Hall. Lily walked along with Neona's arm linked through hers. As they made their way to the Gryffindor table Lily heard whispers and noticed people's heads turning to look at her as she passed.

'Who's that?'

'I've never seen her before…'

'She's really hot.'

Lily felt her face flush at every whisper she heard, embarrassment swamping her. Lily quickly pulled Neona over to the Gryffindor table and sat down, and then she noticed the Marauders hadn't come into the Great Hall yet. Looking back up towards the entrance, she saw that the Marauders were still at the entrance of the Great Hall; all four of them looked at each other and grinned evilly.

Lily watched as James whispered something to the others who nodded. James seemed to be doing a count down, maybe this was the year end prank?

"Five…four…three…two…one…" and then they pointed their wands at the Slytherin table.

The Marauders then walked over to where Lily and Neona were sitting and sat down next to them. Neona looked at Sirius questioningly and he just shrugged grinning. Lily looked over to her left to see that James had sat down beside her. _'Why are they all of the sudden so fond of me?'_ Lily wondered and was about to ask James why they had come to sit with her and Neona, when suddenly there was a shriek from the Slytherin table and all of the Slytherins shrank to the size of and became leprechauns with Gryffindor coloured hats and clothing, as well as striped red and gold beards and hair. Everyone in the Great Hall started laughing when the unthinkable happened. All the Slytherins/leprechauns jumped up on their table and began dancing an Irish jig and singing a song in high-pitched Irish accented voices.

_**"Gryffindor, oh Gryffindor,**_

_**How can we compare to thee?**_

_**You all are the best oh Gryffindor,**_

_**So great that us lousy Slytherins are not worthy!"**_

The Great Hall roared with laugher as the Slytherins/leprechauns kept dancing and singing the same song over and over for two more minutes before the spell wore off. Lily was laughing very hard, her emerald eyes sparkling with mirth, and Neona was laughing so hard that she had tears rolling down her cheeks. James was feeling very proud of himself. Not only had he pulled off an amazing prank, but he'd made Lily laugh, a laugh that reached her eyes, it sent a warm feeling throughout him and he vowed to make her laugh more often.

Lily looked up suddenly and their eyes locked. James smiled warmly at her and winked causing Lily to turn as red as her hair. James couldn't help but grin wider as he watched her blushing furiously. Professor Dumbledore stood up trying to look stern, but his eyes were twinkling with amusement. The Slytherins were glaring at the Marauders murderously.

"Would the one's responsible for that display please own up to their handy work?" Dumbledore asked, his mouth twitching slightly trying not to smile.

James looked at the other Marauders who all grinned and stood up smiling proudly, all of them taking a bow and waving to everyone. The Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff tables roared with applause and cheering, while the Slytherins glared at the Marauders loathingly. Dumbledore chuckled.

"As I though. Well done prank all of you! Seeing as it is the last day you will be pardoned from punishment." He said. The Marauders high fived each other while the Slytherins looked absolutely outraged at Dumbledore's decision. "Continue with your meals." Dumbledore finished and all of the tables except for the Slytherin table cheered and continued with their breakfasts.

Before Lily knew it she was on the Hogwarts express and on her way back home. Neona and Lily were still looking for a compartment when suddenly two large boys blocked off their path. Lily looked up to see Lucius Malfoy and Serverus Snape with their arms crossed, smirking down at them.

"Well, well, if it isn't the Mudblood and the dirty little half blood." Malfoy sneered. Lily's face showed her fear instantly, remembering the last encounter with Malfoy.

"Please let us pass." Lily said calmly, trying to hide the fear that she was feeling. Malfoy and Snape laughed.

"No, I don't-" Suddenly Malfoy stopped talking, staring past Lily and Neona, looking scared, Snape looked no better than Malfoy. Confusion spread across Lily's face and she wondered why Malfoy and Snape were looking so scared, when the reason spoke from behind Lily and Neona.

"What do you think you are doing Malfoy?" James asked venomously from behind Lily. James pulled Lily gently behind him, Sirius pulled Neona behind him and Remus. Malfoy was at a loss for words. Lily peeked around James and had to clap a hand over her mouth to keep herself from laughing at the looks of terror on Snape's face. Malfoy and Snape didn't answer James, instead they both hightailed it, getting out of the Marauder's sight. James turned around to face Lily who looked down at the ground shyly.

"Are you ok? Did they do anything to either of you?" James asked looking down at Lily concerned. Lily shook her head no.

"You showed up before they could do anything." She said not looking up. "Just like the last time." She added quietly, so that only James heard her, her cheeks flushing pink with embarrassment.

"We're just looking for a compartment." Neona spoke up suddenly. James peeled his eyes away from Lily reluctantly and smiled at Neona.

"Why don't you both come to our compartment?" James suggested. Neona smiled nodding. Lily still didn't look up but nodded as well.

"Thank you James." Lily said. James smiled broadly at her and bowed gallantly. Lily couldn't help but laugh at his goofy act.

"No problem my fair Lily flower." He offered her his arm. "Shall we?" He asked. Blushing to the roots of her hair she took his arm, smiling slightly. Shockwaves surged though James's arm where Lily's hand touched his arm. He ignored it and headed off to the compartment with Lily on his arm. Sirius, Remus and Neona stared after them for a moment, then shared a knowing look before heading off after Lily and James, to the Marauder's compartment.

Lily and James stepped inside the compartment where Peter was curled up asleep on the seat closest to the door. James led Lily over to sit by the window and sat down next to her. Lily was still looking at the ground. James just kept staring at her beautiful face, completely memorized and unaware of what he was doing. Lily suddenly looked up, feeling James's startling blue eyes on her and blushed scarlet. James just smiled at her, still not really realizing that he'd been staring at her for a long time now.

"James?" She asked quietly, her voice edged with slight nervousness.

"Yes?" He answered, looking her in the eyes.

"It's not that I mind you or the rest of the Marauders or anything like that but… why are you all, all of a sudden always around me? Like you're constantly watching over me to make sure nothing happens?" She asked in a rush and cast her gaze down once again. James flushed pink. He was about to answer her when suddenly the compartment door slid open and Sirius, Remus and Neona walked in laughing. James, as well as Lily, looked up at the three with identical questioning expressions. Neona, Sirius and Remus looked at James and Lily and upon seeing their identical questioning looks, burst out laughing all over again. Lily and James just looked at each other and shrugged, they probably didn't want to know what was so funny. James sighed with relief, Lily had instantly forgotten her question at the interruption, the truth was, James didn't know how to answer the question...

"So what's planned for your guys' summers?" Neona asked sparking up a conversation. Sirius was the first to speak up, smiling widely.

"Oh nothing too much. Just a whole summer of lazing around, taking it easy, planning Malfoy's and Snape's demise…" Sirius said casually as if planning someone's demise was quite normal. Everyone started laughing at the look of pure mischief that crossed his face, mixed in with a dreamy expression. James looked over at Lily to see her reaction. Lily was curled up in the window seat laughing softly.

"What are you doing for your summer Lily?" James asked smiling brightly at her. Lily looked over at James, smiling weakly, sadness evident in her eyes. James's heart wrenched unpleasantly as he saw her mood dampen noticeably.

"I'm just at home all summer, I'll have to mainly be spending time with Petunia, my older sister…" She trailed off, a hurt expression crossing her face. James was confused, what was wrong with having to spend time with her sister? How awful must her sister be for Lily to look so depressed and hurt?

"Anyone up for a game of exploding snap?" Neona said quickly distracting the attention from Lily. James took the hint that it was a delicate subject and Lily didn't want to talk about it. Everyone nodded that they wanted to play a few games of exploding snap and they all began to play.

The train ride passed by quite quickly and soon they had reached Kings Cross Station. The Hogwarts Express jerked to a stop and James woke up instantly. He felt someone leaning against him and his arm was around that person. James looked down to see Lily curled up into his side and her head on his shoulder, still sound asleep. James looked up to see the other four walking out of the compartment. He turned his attention back to Lily. She looked like a sleeping angel. James couldn't resist pushing a stray curl out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. He sighed, she looked so comfortable, he didn't want to wake her up but he had too. Gently James shook her and she stirred slightly, slowly opening her eyes and waking up. All of a sudden she seemed to realize where she was and jumped, sitting straight up blushing scarlet. James just smiled at her, though his cheeks had involuntarily gone slightly pink.

"James I'm sorry I…" Lily stammered, but James put his finger to her lips silencing her. He looked into her deep emerald eyes smiling at her.

"Lily it's fine, really. We should get going though. The others have already left." James said and took his finger off her lips. Lily just nodded, still blushing, and the two got up and left the compartment. They retrieved their trunks and owls, then searched the crowd and found the Neona standing with Sirius and Remus. The Marauders and Neona smiled as Lily and James made their way over to them.

"Hey you guys." Neona greeted them smiling. James and Lily smiled at her and stopped their trolleys in front of the three. Lily walked around to Neona but as she did something heavy collided with her ankle and the impact of the object sent her over on it, falling to the ground and she winced in pain. James was instantly knelt down beside her.

"What happened?" He asked worriedly. Lily was biting her lip to keep from crying, her eyes were filling with tears of pain. Her ankle wasn't swelling much but it was definitely twisted.

"Something kit my ankle and it gave way on me." Lily said, desperately trying to keep the tears from falling down her cheeks. James was looking at her very concerned, and made a quick decision.

"Well you won't be able to walk on it, that for sure. Let's bring your trunk to your family so they aren't wondering where you are. Sirius could you find my mum and tell her to meet us… Where are you meeting your family?" He asked Lily.

"Just outside the barrier." Sirius nodded and Neona went with him so they'd be able to spot Lily's family easily.

"Remus could you watch my stuff for me? I'll be back soon." Remus nodded smiling.

"Bye Lily." Remus said looking at her sympathetically. Lily smiled slightly.

"Bye Remus, have a good summer." Lily answered. With that James scooped her up in his arms like a baby (or you could say princess style.) and Lily shrieked in surprise, then turned beet red before hitting him in the shoulder.

"You could have at least warned me!" She said completely embarrassed and noticing all the girls on the platform glaring at her. James just laughed, not noticing the glares Lily was getting.

"Well how else am I supposed to get you back to your family? You can't walk." He said flashing her a charming smile. Lily didn't answer she just looked down shyly. James was surprised how light she was. He didn't think that she'd be heavy but she was still much lighter than he'd thought. She'd wrapped her arms around his neck so that he was able to use one of his arms to push her trolley. They walked over to the barrier and walked through it. James looked around and couldn't figure out which family was Lily's. She didn't look like any one of the families standing around the entrance to platform 9 ¾ . He looked down at Lily who was staring at the ground.

"Which family is yours Lily?" He asked. Lily looked up at him, her face was still flushed with embarrassment, and then looked around for a few minutes before spotting her mother and Petunia.

"Do you see the woman with blond hair and the girl standing beside her?" James nodded. "That's my mother and my sister Petunia." James nodded again and began to make his way over to where Lily's family was standing. James was almost right in front of them before Lily's mother and sister noticed Lily and James in front of them. Lily's mother's eyes widened in concern as she saw Lily.

"Lily what happened? Are you alright?" Mrs. Evans asked concerned. Petunia only glared at Lily. Lily's face was burning with embarrassment, as well as pain.

"I'm fine mum, I just had a little accident and I twisted my ankle." Lily said and Mrs. Evans nodded, then looked up at James and smiled at him.

"And who are you?" Mrs. Evans asked James kindly. James smiled at Mrs. Evans, flashing the famous Potter smile.

"I'm James Potter, Mrs. Evans. It's a pleasure to meet you." James said gallantly. Mrs. Evans smiled at him.

"It's very nice to meet you also James. May I ask how you know Lily?" Mrs. Evans asked politely, a glint of mischief in her eyes. James's face turned slightly pink seeing the look that Mrs. Evans was giving him. Lily turned an even brighter shade of pink, knowing exactly what her mother was implying.

"I'm a friend from school. We're both prefects and we're in the same house and year together." James said calmly.

"If you'd be willing to wait for a few moments my friend and Neona will be coming back with my mum and she can fix Lily's ankle so that she can walk again." James finished. Right then Sirius, Neona and Mrs. Potter walked through the barrier behind them and spotted Lily and James with Lily's family. Mrs. Potter, Sirius and Neona walked up to where James was still cradling Lily in his arms like a baby.

Mrs. Potter looked at James cradling Lily in his arms. _'They look absolutely perfect together. And they don't even realize it.'_ Mrs. Potter though smiling.

Neona smiled warmly at Mrs. Evans.

"Hello Mrs. Evans." Neona said. "This is Mrs. Potter and Sirius Black, you really don't need or want to know him-"

"HEY! Be nice!" Sirius interrupted pouting, and everyone chuckled, except for Petunia who was now farther away from the group.

"Anyways… and you've of course already met James.." Neona finished still laughing at the insulted look Sirius was casting at her. Mrs. Evans smiled.

"It's very nice to meet you Mrs. Potter." Mrs. Evans said extending her hand, which Mrs. Potter shook.

"Likewise Mrs. Evans but please call me Raine." Mrs. Evans smiled and nodded.

"Then please call me Anona." Mrs. Potter smiled and then turned her attention to Lily who was still needing to have her ankle attended to.

"And you must be Lily." Mrs. Potter said smiling at her warmly. Lily nodded shyly. Mrs. Potter pulled out her wand and said the spell to heal Lily's ankle. Lily stopped biting the inside of her lip, the pain was gone. James still hadn't put her down, and he didn't want to either for some reason he couldn't explain.

"You can put Lily down now James." Mrs. Potter said smiling teasingly at her son. James blushed and placed Lily down gently still keeping an arm around her waist for support. Lily put full weight on her ankle and smiled as she confirmed her ankle was completely healed.

"Thank you Mrs. Potter." Lily said smiling at her. Mrs. Potter smiled back at her warmly, she liked Lily already and she hardly knew her.

"You're very welcome Lily." Mrs. Potter turned to her son.

"I'll meet you back at home in a little while. Your father has already brought your trunk back home, and has gone back to work." James nodded and with that Mrs. Potter waved to everyone and disapperated.

"We'll see you later James. Bye Lily, Mrs. Evans it was very nice meeting you." Sirius said and he and Neona waved at them then ran back through the barrier. Mrs. Evans smiled at Lily.

"I'll take your stuff back to the car and we'll meet you out front in a few minutes, I'll leave you both to say good bye to each other. It was very nice to meet you James." James smiled.

"The pleasure was all mine Mrs. Evans he said kissing the back of her hand suavely. Mrs. Evans waved good-bye and headed off. Once she was out of ear shot Petunia approached the two of them.

"Don't take too long freak, I have things I need to do today and I don't have the time to wait around for you." With that Petunia stalked off after her mother. Lily hung her head in shame, embarrassed James had seen that.

James was shocked and looked down at Lily who was staring at the ground, and he witnessed a single teardrop from her eyes. She looked up at him, the look of her and sadness back in her eyes once again.

"I'm sorry you had to see that James." Lily said quietly. "Thanks for helping today." James smiled at her warmly, sympathy in his eyes.

"It was no problem Lily. I'm sorry you have to put up with a sister like that though." James said sincerely. Lily smiled wryly at him.

"That was a kind departure from Petunia. It's nothing like what she normally says to me. It was probably only because you were here that she didn't say anything worse." Lily said dryly, then clamped her hands over her mouth realizing what she'd just told him.

"That's horrible Lily, you shouldn't have to put up with that." James said, wishing he could help her. They stayed silent for a few moments

"Lily?" James asked suddenly.

"Yes?" She answered. James looked down at his feet shyly. **What was wrong with him? He was never usually this nervous around anyone! **He looked up at Lily again.

"Would you mind if we stayed in touch over the summer? Maybe I can relieve you of your sister every so often?" James asked hopefully. Lily's eyes widened slightly shocked, but nodded. James's face broke into a huge grin, looking very excited and Lily couldn't help but laugh at him.

"Great! I'm guessing you should probably go because your family is waiting… but you'll hear from me soon I promise." With that James pulled Lily into a hug and then waved good-bye. Then he ran through the barrier leaving a very stunned Lily. She stood there shocked for a few moments and then left to find her parents as her summer officially began.

A/N: PLEASE REVIEW!PRETTY, PRETTY PLEASE!


	2. Summer Letters and Devastations

A/N: Well this is my first Lily and James Fic so please go easy on me! Please Read and Review!  I'm sorry I took a bit over a week to get this second chapter up but my mum was doing report cards and needed the computer. I have the third chapter done but I still need to edit it and type it up. I hope you enjoy this chapter! I'll have the next chapter up in about a week probably. Please Review! Pretty pretty pretty please!!!

Also thank you Blu Jello for the defence against tarabella. I really do appreciate it. It's completely true, starting off a fanfic is very difficult, and tarabella no one is perfect so if you don't like the story you don't have to read it.

On a happier note… Thank you so much to ALL of my reviewers for their wonderful comments! ENJOY! Please Review! Pretty pretty pretty please!!!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Harry Potter…. My fairy godmother died early this year so currently I am not J.K. Rowling though I wish I was… maybe I should go looking for my magic lamp… it's got to be around here somewhere…. Oh Bloody Hell it's broken! I give up! By the way…. Oh wait! My imagination granted me a wish!! I own the idea of the Jóia Maine Coon species!! Go me!!

Chapter 2: Summer Letters and Devastations

After the first month of Summer Lily was about ready to climb the walls with frustration. Petunia was making her life much more unbearable than usual. The only salvation Lily had was the many letters from Neona, James, Sirius and Remus. Peter was on vacation in France with his parents. Lily took out the most recent letters before she had to go down for breakfast that morning, and looked at them, reading them over again for a second time.

**_Hey Lily!_**

****

That's awful what Petunia is doing to you. You really need to learn to fight back a bit more girl. Truthfully, tell you parents or something, which I have been bugging you to do for years now. Even though I know you won't.

****

**_I swear you need live-in Marauders! _**(Lily blushed and scowled at the letter.)******_And stop glaring at me Lily. Maybe you just need a live-in James…. I bet you'd like that even better…. _******(Lily's face turned as red as her hair and if looks could kill… lets just say the letter and Neona would be disintegrated.)****

****

**_Anyways… we need to do something soon Lily. I need to get you out of there, you sound like you're going through hell… which is not all that unlikely seeing as you live with Petunia. _**(Lily chuckled.)**_ I'll see what I can do and maybe we could go to Diagon alley as soon as we get our Hogwarts letters. I've got to go for now but I'll talk to you later. Don't let Petunia keep you down ok?  Stay strong!_**

****

**_Hugs,_**

**_Neona_**

****

Lily refolded the letter and moved on to the next letter, which was from Remus. Lily liked him he was very kind and understanding about everything and didn't push her to talk. He always seemed to have something to talk about, mainly defence against the dark arts though....

                 **_Dear Lily,_**

****

**_How's your summer going? I hope it's going ok, I've heard you sister isn't exactly the nicest person in the world…_****_ (That was an understatement, Lily thought.) _****_But anyways_**_, **Neona wrote me the other day and suggested that we all meet up at Diagon Alley some time soon. I think that would be great, and it should be pretty soon. I've just got to see what everyone else is doing. I've got to go now but I'll write again soon.**_

****

**_Remus_**

****

Lily smiled as she refolded Remus's letter and opened another, which was from Sirius.

                **_Yo Lils!_**

****

**_     How's everything going? I can't believe you actually have a sister like that! Maybe Neona's right… the Marauders need to make a guest appearance to Petunia and set her straight, Marauder's style! _**(Lily laughed imagining the look that was on Sirius's face at that moment when he was thinking of what the Marauders could do to Petunia.) 

Hmm…. Now what prank to pull… we could do the leprechaun prank… nah… not evil enough. Or we could do something to charm her to look and smell like a skunk to all guys… not that she needs any help in that department… (Lily giggled imagining what Petunia would do if this happened.) Oh I'll think of more by the time I see you again. And yes I'm grinning evilly at the moment in case you're wondering.  Petunia will regret ever stepping out of line with you! Muhahahahaha *Choke**Choke* hahaha! Well I've got to go I'll see you soon Lils.

****

**_Sirius_******

****

Lily was laughing as thoughts of how the Marauders getting even with Petunia. She placed the letter aside and turned to the last letter, which was from James. 

                        **_Dear Lily flower,_**

****

**_You know Neona's completely right; we need to get you out of your house at least once this summer. So how are you doing? Do you think you're going to be Head Girl this year? Personally I think there's no other choice. _**(Lily rolled her eyes. There was no way she was going to be head girl.)******_I wonder who the Head Boy is going to be… maybe it'll be Fletchly from Hufflepuff… it definitely won't be slimy, greasy Snape. Well I've got to go now but I promise you'll see and everyone else soon._**

****

**_James_**

****

Lily sighed, putting down the letter on her desk and walked over to her dresser and got changed into a pair of jean capri's and a royal blue tank top.  She took her wand off the dresser and pointed it in the air.

"Inosservabile!" She said in a forceful whisper. Instantly the room shone with a silver mist and disappeared as fast as it appeared. Now she was able to do some magic, without receiving a warning.

"To go curly or to not go curly?" Lily muttered to herself, and sighed. Maybe she should just let her hair go naturally today…

"Naturlia." Lily said pointing her wand at her hair and instantly her hair was a large mass of tight, shiny red ringlets.

"Lily! Breakfast is out!" Mrs. Evans voice rang out from the bottom of the stairs Lily sighed, placing her wand down and headed down to the kitchen for breakfast.

Twenty minutes later Lily walked up to her room after a stressful breakfast with Petunia. It was the first of august and it was a sweltering day in Surrey, England. She went inside her room and locked the door behind her, so as Petunia couldn't come in and start bugging her and putting her down, and then proceeded to flop down on her bed, burying her face in her pillow.

"Why me? Why did I have to be related to Petunia of all the people in the world…?" She moaned into her pillow.

Suddenly there was a tapping on her window. Lily slowly looked up hearing the noise and then nearly jumped out of her skin in surprise and shock. James was hovering outside her window on his broom grinning at her. Lily quickly got up and opened the window, her face still showing her shock. James just kept smiling at her.

"James what are you doing here?" Lily asked. James laughed

"I'm here to free you from prison Lily flower." He said simply, smiling charmingly. Lily blushed to the roots of her hair as he said his nickname for her.

"Well in order to do that you will have to go down to the front door and ring the doorbell." She said. He looked at her confusedly. Now it was her turn to laugh, and James just looked more confused.

"There's a little white button next to the door on the right. Pres it once… and only once." James nodded. "So what exactly do you have planned for today?" She asked curiously. James grinned mischievously. 

"You'll just have to wait and see. I'll see you in a minute Lily flower." He said and with that James was gone. Lily closed her window and began to walk downstairs towards the door.

As she reached the last step the doorbell rang. Petunia suddenly came from out of nowhere, knocking Lily into the railing and onto the floor with a thump. Petunia opened the door smiling brightly, obviously thinking it would be Vernon, her utterly boring, and fat as a pig boyfriend. As soon as the door was completely open Petunia's face turned sour.

"Hello, is Lily here?" James's voice sounded from the doorway. Petunia was about to shut the door in James's face when Mrs. Evans walked into the room and towards the door.

"Who's at the door Petunia?" Mrs. Evans asked, and then she saw James and smiled at him warmly.

"Well hello there James. It's nice to see you again. Please come in instead of standing in the doorway." Mrs. Evans said smiling. James grinned, moving around Petunia and walked inside the door closing it behind him carrying his broom and cloak.

"It's a pleasure to see you again Mrs. Evans." James said and Petunia walked off in a huff. Lily had gotten up and walked over to him smiling.

"Hi James, so what brings you here?" Lily asked hoping that she would catch him off guard and he would tell her what he was planning for the day. James bit back a laugh; he knew instantly that Lily was trying to get him to tell her what they were going to do.

"To see you and your lovely mother of course Lily flower." He said winking at her. Lily's cheeks burned at hearing the nickname. Mrs. Evans chuckled. _'They really have no idea… it's quite precious really.'_ She thought smiling.

"Well why don't you come into the kitchen and I'll get you something to eat." Mrs. Evans said. James's face lit up at the mention of food and Lily tried not to laugh.

"Thank you Mrs. Evans." He said following Mrs. Evans into the kitchen with Lily right beside him.

"It's no problem dear. Take a seat at the table and I'll bring the food out in a few minutes." James nodded and did as he was told. Lily sat down beside him.

"You never do turn down food do you?" Lily said laughing softly as James looked at her in utter surprise, and then joined in laughing. At that moment a man around six feet tall, medium build, with dark brown hair and chocolate brown eyes walked into the kitchen and instantly noticed James.

"Hello, who are you?" Mr. Evans asked eying James with suspicion. James stood up and walked over to Mr. Evans.

"I'm James Potter sir. I'm a friend of Lily's from school." He introduced himself and held out his hand for Mr. Evans to shake. Mr. Evans smiled approvingly after a minute and shook James's hand. Then they both sat down at the table. Mrs. Evans came in a few minutes later with a plate stacked with sandwiches and kissed Mr. Evans quickly on the cheek smiling at him.

"I see you've already met James." She said and Mr. Evans nodded to his wife.

"The sandwiches are delicious Mrs. Evans, thank you." James said and helped himself to another sandwich.

"You're very welcome James." She said and sat down next to her husband.

"So James tell us a bit about yourself." Mr. Evans said, looking over at James after a few minutes. James swallowed before answering.

"What would you like to know sir?" He asked.

"What your favourite sports are, what your best classes are, what your parents do, stuff like that." Mr. Evans replied. James smiled; he was fine with answering these questions.

"Well my mum is a nurse at St. Mungo's Hospital and my dad is the current minister of Magic, but he's a trained auror as well." James looked at their confused faces and explained more.

"An auror is a wizard that hunts down dark wizards or wizards who have broken the wizard law, and sends them to Azkaban prison." They still looked mildly confused when Lily intervened.

"They're like policemen with magic instead of weapons and dogs." She said. The Evans' nodded in understanding but now James was confused and Lily had to bite back a laugh at his clueless expression.

"I'll tell you later James, you can keep going." She said. He nodded and continued.

"My favourite sport is Quidditch. I play on the Gryffindor house team. My position is seeker and I'm the current captain."

"What's Quidditch?" Mr. Evans asked curiously. James turned to Lily completely taken aback.

"You've never told them about Quidditch?" He asked her shocked. Lily shook her head no.

"No matter I'll explain. Quidditch is our sport in the Wizarding world. Everyone follows it like Soccer in the muggle world. It's really easy to understand. It's played in the air on broomsticks. There are seven players on each team. Three chasers, two beaters, one keeper and a seeker. 

There are three types of balls, the quaffle, bludgers and the snitch. The quaffle looks like a big red muggle soccer ball and is used by the chasers throwing it back and forth between themselves to outsmart the keeper and score points by throwing it threw one of the three hoops. There are three hoops on either side of the pitch. The keeper guards these hoops and tries to prevent the other team from scoring. Each goal is worth ten points.

The beaters use clubs to knock the bludgers away from their team, aiming at the others team's players instead. The purpose of the bludgers is to unseat as many players as possible. There are only two bludgers in the game and they are the size of a large muggle baseball.  The last member of the team is the seeker. They are the most important member of the team. This is because the only way for a game to end is for one of the seekers to catch the golden snitch, which awards the seeker who catches it one hundred and fifty points for their team. The team that gets the snitch usually wins the game. The snitch is a small golden ball about the size of a muggle golf ball with wings. It is very fast and hard to see, so it's very difficult to catch." He finished and Mr. And Mrs. Evans nodded in understanding.

"So what about school then? What are your favourite courses, your group of friends etc." Mr. Evans asked.

"Well I'm a Gryffindor and a prefect like Lily, who beats me in every class with the exception of Transfiguration where I actually tie with her." Lily blushed slightly and her parents looked at her with pride.

"So what brought you here today James?" Lily asked changing the topic. James smiled and turned to look at Mr and Mrs. Evans.

"I was wondering if you'd let me take Lily to Diagon Alley to meet up with the rest of the Marauders and Neona." He smiled, hoping they'd say yes.

"The Marauders?" Mr. Evans questioned looking doubtful. James opened his mouth to answer but Lily beat him to it.

"The Marauders are the ultimate four pranksters and mischief makers at Hogwarts, and are all best mates. James is the leader because of his natural command over everything; Sirius Black is the most daring and will take any number of risks. Remus Lupin is the quieter one of the group, but is just as mischievous as Sirius and James. The last member of the Marauders is Peter Pettigrew. He's sort of mousy but still participates in all of their pranks and trouble making. They're the most popular in all of Hogwarts. Every girl at Hogwarts has a crush on at least one of them." Lily finished, and now it was James's turn to blush.

"What about you Lily, which one do you have a crush on?" Mrs. Evans asked teasingly. Lily went scarlet and wished she could sink into the ground. Mr. Evans ignored the comment from his wife, and looked at James thoughtfully, a mischievous glint now in his eye.

"So what's your favourite prank from this year James?" He asked. James grinned widely.

"I don't think I could choose… they were all so much fun." He turned to Lily. "What was your favourite Lily flower?" He asked. She looked up at him, startled, and then thought for a moment before answering.

"Um… either the Christmas feast prank when you make all of the Slytherin guy's sing Christmas carols like Alvin and the Chipmunks, and the girls sing like the Chippettes or the year end breakfast when you turned all of the Slytherin's into Leprechauns dressed in Gryffindor colours, singing and dancing an Irish Jig." Lily said laughing at the memories of the pranks. Mr. And Mrs. Evans chuckled at this.

"Very clever. You have quite an imagination. And yes you may take Lily with you to meet up with your friends. How are you going to get there though?" Mr. Evans asked.

"The same way I got here sir, on my broom. And we won't be seen either." James answered. Lily looked at him questioningly. "With the help of a family heirloom." He added holding up his cloak.

"How is that going to keep you from being seen?" Mrs. Evans asked confused. James grinned, standing up and moving away from the table slightly.

"Like this." He said, his eyes glinting with mischief. He then threw the cloak over himself, vanishing instantly from sight. Mrs. Evans let out a small shriek of surprise, and Mr. Evans jumped slightly. Lily's eyes grew wide with amazement and smiled.

"It's an invisibility cloak… Those are really rare." Lily said awed slightly. James suddenly reappeared grinning at Mrs. Evans apologetically.

"I'm sorry for startling you Mrs. Evans." He said. Mrs. Evans waved off the apology.

"It's fine dear, don't worry about it. I'm guessing that you and Lily should get going though." She said looking up at the clock on the wall. It was now 12 pm. James nodded in agreement and stood up along with everyone else.

"Yeah we should get going. I told them we'd meet them around 1pm. Thank you for the food, it was good seeing you again Mrs. Evans, and it was nice to meet you Mr. Evans."

"Likewise James." Mr. Evans replied shaking James hand again.

"I'll be right back, I've just got to get my purse." Lily said running upstairs, grabbing her bag and then returning to the front door a few minutes later. Mr. Evans took a 50£ note out of his wallet and gave it to Lily. She looked at her father shocked.

"It's an early birthday present Lily. Have a good time and try to be back before dinner ok?" Mr. Evans said. Lily smiled and gave each of her parents a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"I will. Bye mum, bye dad." She said walking just outside the door.

"Bye Mr. And Mrs. Evans, I'll make sure I get Lily home on time." James said stepping out the door next to Lily, clutching his cloak and broom. The Evans' nodded and waved as Lily and James walked around behind the hedges into the alley so as not to be seen by anyone else.

Once out of sight James threw the cloak around them, and then paused.

"I forgot to ask you, do you even like flying? I mean are you scared of heights or anything?" He asked. Lily shook her head smiling.

"No I'm not. Flying is fun, I just haven't done any in a while." She said. He grinned and mounted his broom. He then offered his hand to her.

"Great, then climb on in front of me and we'll head off to Diagon Alley." She blushed slightly as she got on in front of him. James hesitated for a second and then wrapped his arm securely around her waist. She leaned back into him without thinking. Neither one could explain how it felt, just that it felt right. James put his mouth next to her ear.

"Are you ready to go?" He asked. She nodded and with that he kicked off from the ground.

It took them a half an hour to reach the Leaky Cauldron. Their trip had been relaxing, talking about just about everything. James landed just outside the Leaky Cauldron and helped Lily off the broom. They walked into the pub, removing the cloak as they opened the door.

"James! Lily! Over here!" Sirius's voice rang our across the pub. Lily and James spotted him along with Remus and Neona over to the right, near the bar and made their way toward them. Neona got up and hugged Lily, then pulled back looking her in the eyes.

"How are you? How bad has Petunia gotten?" Neona asked quietly. Lily looked down.

"She's gotten worse. I'm as fine as can be expected when living with someone like Petunia." Lily answered back softly. Neona nodded and looked at Lily sympathetically.

"So are we ready to head off into Diagon Alley?" Sirius asked. Lily smiled and nodded along with everyone else. "Well let's go then!" He said and they all headed into Diagon Alley and straight to Gringotts. 

After visiting Gringotts the five began browsing around Diagon ally, stopping around Florean Fortescue's for ice cream at 3:30pm.

"So is there anywhere else you want to go?" James asked Lily, as the group was finishing up their ice cream. "You haven't hardly spent a few sickles of the money your dad gave you for an early birthday present." He finished.

"I'd actually like to go to the Magical Creatures shop. If that's ok with everyone." Lily answered. James nodded and smiled at her.

"Sure, we'll go in a few minutes." James said.

"I can't go Lily, I've got to get back home, but I'll write to you tomorrow." Neona said.

"Same here." Sirius and Remus chorused. Lily smiled.

" That's fine. It's been a great afternoon anyways. I'm glad I was able to get away from Petunia." She said smiling at all of them. They all grinned back at her. Sirius slung an arm around her shoulders playfully, and Lily blushed slightly.

"I told you before Lils, saving beautiful damsels in distress is always an honour." Sirius said. Lily removed his arm blushing to the roots of her hair and laughing along with everyone else. After a few minutes Sirius, Remus and Neona said goodbye to Lily and James, leaving the two alone.

"So shall we go to the Magical Creatures shop?" James asked standing up. Lily stood up and nodded smiling. With that they walked to the Magical creatures shop side by side, though not talking much. The shop was filled with rows of cages and animals of all shapes and sizes. A middle-aged witch greeted them as they entered the shop.

"Hello, can I help you?" she asked kindly. Lily looked at her and nodded.

"I'm looking for a pet. I'd really like a cat of some sort." Lily answered. As she said that something amazingly soft brushed up against her shin. Lily looked down to see the prettiest kitten she'd ever seen. The kitten was very tiny, and would obviously fit easily into one of Lily's hands. It had fur the same colour as Lily's hair with a black moon shape around its right eye, a sun shape around its left eye and what looked like a white lightning bolt on it's back. It's eyes were large and a brilliant shade of violet. Finally, there was a teardrop jewel the same shade of violet as its eyes. Lily bent down scooping up the kitten in her hands. The kitten continued nuzzling her affectionately and purring musically. Lily giggled.

"I think she chose me." The witch nodded in agreement, smiling.

"She's five galleons. She's what we call a Jóia Maine Coon, a special type of Magical Felines. You can read about them in a magical creatures book, I just don't know very much about them." She said to Lily. She nodded and walked over to the register to pay. Placing the kitten down Lily took out five galleons.

"Is there a carrier of some sort that I could buy to put her in, so I can take her home?" Lily asked. The witch nodded.

"It comes with the Jóia Maine Coon dear. You don't have to pay extra." Lily smiled and handed over the five galleons.

"Does she have a name?" The witch shook her head no.

"Ok then. Your name's going to be Iona." Lily decided and Iona purred. The witch put a medium sized carrier on a counter and opened the door of it. Obediently Iona walked inside and the door shut and locked behind her.

"What about food?"

"There's already some in the carrier. All you need is regular muggle cat food and treats." The witch said smiling. Lily nodded and picked up the carrier.

"Thank you." She said. The witch nodded and waved goodbye as Lily and James walked out of the shop. They walked back to the Leaky Cauldron, Lily carrying Iona's carrier.

"So did you have fun today?" James asked breaking the silence between them. Lily beamed up at him and James chuckled.

"I'll take that as a yes then." He said. Lily laughed and James's heart soared, he loved hearing her laugh.

"Thank you James." She said after a few minutes. "For bringing me here today. I really did have a great time seeing everyone." James grinned and hugged her around the shoulders.

"You're very welcome Lily flower." He said pulling her into his side, and Lily blushed slightly, but didn't try and move his arm.

They entered Muggle London and threw the invisibility cloak over them. James mounted the broom, then helped Lily on in front of him and kicked off from the ground, heading for Lily's house. Once again the journey back was peaceful and relaxing, though they didn't talk too much. The half hour trip passed by quickly. James flew down the street towards Lily's house, reaching it within a few minutes. He looked at her house and froze, all colour draining out of his face. 

The dark mark was hovering over her house, burning black in the sky. James felt Lily start to shake, and he instinctively pulled her closer to him. They stayed hovering there, completely frozen with shock.

"Please tell me I'm seeing things." Lily choked, her voice quivering as she spoke, trying to hold back sobs that were threatening to break free from her control at any moment. James was torn; they had been there only hours before, talking with them, now they were most likely gone… 'What if Lily had been there? Was he after her?' A million thoughts raced through his head as he watched the Dark Mark burn over the house. But what surprised James the most was that the house wasn't destroyed.

"Lily, I wish I could. I really wish I could…" James said sadly. Tears began pouring down Lily's ivory cheeks as she turned to look at James.

"Can we go and see? Maybe they weren't home… maybe…" She trailed off. James nodded, he was hoping just as much as Lily was that she was right, but he doubted it, there was almost no possible way that the Evans's were still alive. James landed in front of the house and they dismounted the broom. Lily went to take off the invisibility cloak but James stopped her.

"We have to be careful. There might still be Death Eaters lurking around the house." James whispered and Lily nodded. James took her hand pulling her close to him. Lily looked up at him questioningly, her cheeks stained red with a blush. James turned pink, and he was amazed he was feeling embarrassed at a moment like this, especially when he didn't know why he would be embarrassed, it was just Lily seemed to have that effect on him.

"We have to stay close. We can't afford to expose ourselves. This way we won't." He said. 

"Ok." She said quietly. Taking a deep breath James opened the door and walked into the house with Lily right beside him. Everything was calm and quiet, though it was an eerie quiet and neither one liked the feel of it. They walked into the living room and Lily let out a small shriek.

"No, no, no, no, no…" She moaned over and over and then started sobbing uncontrollably. Her parents were both collapsed on the floor in front of the fireplace, completely motionless. James felt all of the blood drain out of his face and Lily slid to the floor suddenly as her legs gave way from shock. James took the invisibility cloak off of them and knelt down in front of Lily.

"Lily… I'm so sorry…" He said Gently, wiping a few of the tears away that were flowing steadily down her ivory cheeks. She leaned forward, burying her face into his shoulder and continued sobbing. James wrapped his arms around her tightly, resting his chin on the top of her head, and rocked her back and forth gently, just letting her cry. For how long they were like that neither of them knew, but suddenly there was a scream from behind them. James and Lily sprang apart, startled, and turned around to see a furious Petunia pointing an accusing finger at Lily.

"YOU! THIS IS ALL YOUR BLOODY FAULT YOU FREAK! IF YOU WEREN'T A FREAK THIS WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED! SO CONGRADULATIONS ON MURD-" James jumped up glaring down at Petunia with utter rage and fury, cutting her off before she could finish.

"Don't you dare even think of saying it, you disgrace of a muggle. This had nothing to do with Lily being a witch, and you remember that." James said coldly, his tone dangerous. Petunia looked completely startled and scared of James and fled out of the house without answering him. James turned back to Lily who had silent tears rolling down her cheeks. James knelt down and pulled her into his lap, cradling her in his arm like a baby.

"Don't listen to her Lily, it's not your fault that this happened." James said seriously. Before she could answer him there were several popping sounds. James turned his head, so as not to show Lily, to see his father and six other auror's.

"Dad? What are you doing here?" James asked completely shocked that his father was there. He never went to any of the muggle attacks. The only attack scenes he went to were the ones of prominent Wizarding families, even though he had nothing against and loved muggles, he just didn't have the time to visit every attack site. 'There must be something different about Lily's for him to be here.' James thought. Mr. Potter looked equally shocked to see James at the Evans's home.

"I could ask you the same question James." Mr. Potter said seriously.

"Lily lives here." James turned all the way around so that Mr. Potter and the other auror's could see Lily, who was still cradled in James's arms and had buried into James's chest still crying.

"I took her with me to Diagon alley to meet up with Sirius, Remus, and Neona around midday. We only got back a little while ago, at most a half an hour ago. And everything was as it is now." James finished. Mr. Potter nodded, kneeling down in front of James and Lily, looking at Lily with sympathy.

"I'm very sorry for your loss Lily." Mr. Potter said gently. Lily looked up from James's chest; the tears had stopped flowing for the moment.

"Thank you." She whispered, her eyes still shining with tears. James tightened his grip on her and she leaned into him more, leaning her head back on his chest. She didn't have to fight as hard to keep her tears from flowing, feeling more secure and safe being in James's arms. Mr. Potter noticed this and smiled as an idea came to him.

"Lily it's not safe for you to remain here. So I am asking you to come back to the Potter Mansion with James and live with us for the remainder of the summer. James could you pleas help her pack her things? You can both use your magic to shrink everything to fit into Lily's trunk." Mr. Potter said. James nodded smiling. Lily was completely shocked at the offer but nodded as well.

"Thank you again Mr. Potter." Lily said shyly. Mr. Potter smiled at her warmly.

"It is the least I can do dear, and you are very welcome." He said.  Lily smiled at him. James put Lily down and stood up and then offered Lily his hand to help her to her feet. Lily took it blushing slightly and James pulled her up but didn't let go of her hand. Lily then bent down and picked up Iona's carrier and then led James up to her room so that they could begin to pack everything that she owned.

"They're a cute couple aren't they? How long have they been together?" Malachey O'Meara asked walking up to Mr. Potter. Mr. Potter chuckled and shook his head.

"Oh they aren't a couple. At least not yet. Raine was right though as usual. James is falling hard and fast for that girl without realizing he's doing so, and it's not hard to see why." Mr. Potter said. Malachey chuckled and nodded in agreement, before becoming serious again.

"We've found something that confirms our suspicions." Malachey said passing Mr. Potter a piece of paper. Mr. Potter took it reading it over, his eyes growing wide.

"Lily's life is in danger. If she had been here instead of with James… I don't even want to think of what would have happened." Malachey said hanging his head. Mr. Potter nodded.

"We'll have to tell her, but not just yet… she needs time to heal this wound that has been opened today." Mr. Potter said. Malachey nodded in agreement and began to help the other auror's with the Evans's bodies. Mr. Potter folded the parchment and placed it in his pocket, he needed to talk to Raine. 

A/N: PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!PRETTY, PRETTY PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!


	3. Changes and Coping With Loss

_A/N: Thank you to all of my reviewers! I hope you enjoy this next chapter I made it nice and long for you! Now I'm expecting lots and lots of Reviews ;) Enjoy! And Please Review!! Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Please!!!!!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Harry Potter…. My fairy godmother died early this year so currently I am not J.K. Rowling though I wish I was… maybe I should go looking for my magic lamp… it's got to be around here somewhere…. Oh Bloody Hell it's broken! I give up! By the way…. Oh wait! My imagination granted me a wish!! I own the idea of the Jóia __Maine Coon species (Iona) and all other characters that you don't recognize such as Neona!! Go me!!_

Chapter 3: Changes and Coping With Loss

Lily led James into her room at the top of the stairs. James was amazed at how little there was on the walls and floor compared to his room which looked like a bomb went off at the moment. The room was Emerald green with light wooden floors and a white ceiling which had what looked like glow coloured, flat stars and planets stuck to the pure white ceiling, which puzzled James.

"Lily what are those things stuck to your ceiling? What are they for?" He asked curiously. Lily looked up at him and smiled slightly. She took her hand out of his and walked over to her desk and picked up her wand, pointing it at the ceiling and muttered a few spells James couldn't hear.

Instantly the room shone with a silver mist and disappeared as fast as it appeared. Then the room went dark as night and the ceiling lit up with a glowing light. James watched as the stars and planets began to move around the ceiling, coming to life. James was completely awed. Lily walked up to him, the small smile still on her face. He looked down at her with a look of curiosity.

"Where did you get these Lily? I've never seen anything like them before. They're amazing." James asked. She looked down a small pink blush staining her cheeks.

"They're a muggle glow in the dark solar system set. Except they aren't supposed to move and look like the real thing. In the summer of second year I charmed them to constantly look like a real solar system when the room is completely dark. During the day they look like any old muggle set." She finished. James was stunned.

"But you can't use magic during the summer. So how did you do it without being caught?" He asked completely confused, yet impressed.  Lily looked at him incredulously, and quite shocked.

"You're kidding me. You don't know the spell that enables underage wizards to do magic without being caught? The famous James Potter. And you call yourself a Marauder?" She said almost laughing. James merely shook his head. He hadn't even known such a spell existed. 

"How did you find it? And what is it anyways?" James asked anxiously. He really wanted to know what the spell was; it could help the Marauders with lots of their pranks, if no one could detect the magic they were using. Lily smiled and shook her head.

"Can I tell you later? We need to pack my stuff…" Lily trailed off. Her throat suddenly tightening and tears filling her eyes as she remembered why they were up in her room in the first place. James walked closer to her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him, and stroked her back soothingly.

"It'll be ok Lily, I promise." He said reassuringly, looking at her as she let the tears flow into the fabric of his shirt. She only nodded before pulling back from him and wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. James gave her a reassuring smile, which gave her some courage to begin packing. With that they began shrinking everything that belonged to Lily in the room and putting it into her trunk. Bryn was put in her cage as well. Finally Lily levitated her solar system into her trunk and everything was ready to go at last. James went to lift her trunk but then remembered that he could use magic, and sent it down the stairs to the living room. He instead took Bryn's cage from the floor beside Lily. Lily was holding Iona's carrier, and was just standing in the center of the now bare room with her back to James, tears silently streaming down her cheeks. James set down Bryn's cage and wrapped his arms around Lily's waist supportively. She turned around and looked up at him, tears shining in her emerald eyes.

"It's just hard… Everything is changing so fast…" She sniffed, another few tears rolling down her cheeks. James removed one of his arms from her waist and reached his hand up to her face, gently wiping the tears away with his thumb and stroked her cheek, looking into her eyes.

"I can only imagine how hard this is Lily. But you're strong, you **can** do this. You've survived Petunia for the past sixteen years, which shows you can survive anything." He said smirking, earning a watery chuckle from Lily. James smiled at her.

"And don't forget you've got all of your friends, Neona, Sirius, Remus, Peter and me." He added. Lily nodded. "So are you ready Lily flower?" James asked.

"Yes." She said quietly. James picked up Bryn's cage, keeping his right arm around Lily, and the two headed back downstairs. James's father was still down there with Malachey O'Meara, and smiled as the two teenagers emerged into the living room.

"Do you have everything?" Mr. Potter asked.  Lily thought for a moment and then shook her head. She moved out of James's grip, then walked over to the fireplace and took down a medium sized picture ( 8x10) of her parents on their wedding day. Then turned back to Mr. Potter smiling weakly at him.

"Now I do." She said. Mr. Potter smiled at her sympathetically.

"Ok then. You'll be using floo powder to get to the Potter Manor. All you have to do is shout 'Phoenix Grove' when you step into the fireplace. James you go first with the trunk." James nodded. Lily placed the picture in the trunk and took Bryn from James. James smiled at her and walked over to the fireplace. Mr. Potter threw a pinch of green powder on the fire that he had conjured out of nowhere. The flames turned emerald green and rose higher and higher.

"I'll see you in a minute Lily flower." James said as he reached the fireplace with her trunk. Lily nodded. He stepped into the flames holding onto the trunk securely and shouted.

"Phoenix Grove!" and was gone. Lily looked up at Mr. Potter.

"What is going to happen with my sister and the funerals?" She asked.

"The other ministry members are working out the situation at present but it'll take a few days my dear." Mr. Potter answered. Lily could only nod in understanding no longer trusting her voice, yet she was relieved that she wasn't the one who had to plan the funeral, or deal with Petunia at the moment because she didn't think she would be able to handle it now. Lily walked over to the fireplace and stepped into the emerald flames carrying Bryn and Iona's cages.

"Phoenix Grove!" She shouted and she was instantly spinning rapidly through the floo network. She reached the right grate and fell out of the fireplace at the Potter Manor. A pair of strong arms caught her before she fell on her face and pulled her up. Lily looked up to see James and smiled at him thankfully. 

"Do you want me to take you to your room so you can unpack your stuff?" James asked. "The house elves already took up your trunk. They refused to let me do it." He added laughing. Lily just smiled.

"Ok." She agreed. James took Bryn's cage from her and offered her his arm, she took it and they began walking up to her room. 

Lily's eyes grew wide as she glanced around her. She hadn't known James was rich until recently but she hadn't ever thought of how rich he really was. _'He sure doesn't act it…'_ She thought as they walked up the stairs. They turned down a corridor to the right, once they reached the second floor, and walked until they reached the seventh door on the right. James turned the handle and pushed the door open, then walked inside with Lily on his arm still.

 Lily's mouth hung open as they stepped inside the beautiful room. The room was sea green with beautiful red oak floors. There was a double, four-poster, oak framed bed in the center of the room with dark green curtains and canopy as well as a soft green comforter, pillows and sheets. A large oak dresser was up against the wall to the left of the bed, next to a large walk in closet. Two large glass doors opened onto a balcony over looking the grounds of the Potter Manor to the left of the closet. On the right wall there was a medium sized oak desk next to the full bathroom, which included a vanity mirror. On the walls hung a few moving pictures. One was of a beautiful Mermaid with long blond hair playing with a few dolphins in the setting sun in a cove. The other was of a small herd of unicorns running under the light of the crescent moon by the ocean that lined the forest. Lily was speechless, and completely awed by the room. James chuckled at her awed expression.

"I take it you like it?" He asked teasingly. Lily could only nod, then after a moment she regained her voice.

"It's beautiful…" She managed to say. James just grinned.

"So should we unpack your stuff then?" He asked. Lily nodded and walked over to her trunk, which was at the base of the bed. She opened the trunk and pulled out her wand and said:

"Inosservabile!" She said in a forceful whisper. Instantly the room shone with a silver mist and disappeared as fast as it appeared. The two then began unpacking everything that was shrunken down, that the house elves hadn't been able to do for her. Lily unlatched Bryn and Iona's cages. Iona pounced out and began to explore the room with interest.

After ten minutes Lily put the finishing touches on the room by putting up her solar system on the ceiling and hanging up the picture of her parents on their wedding day on the wall opposite her bed, above the fireplace. James sat down on the edge of her bed once he was done and Iona jumped up on his lap demanding him to pet her. James chuckled and complied to Iona's demand. Suddenly there was a faint knock on the door. James and Lily turned to see a house elf with big blue eyes, in a bright blue tea cozy standing in the doorway of Lily's room.

"Please excuse Twinkle Mr. Prongs and Miss, but Twinkle has been asked by Mistress Potter to tell you that dinner is ready." James smiled at Twinkle.

"Thank you Twinkle. This is Lily flower." He said pointing to Lily who smiled at Twinkle kindly. "And Lily flower this is Twinkle." James finished the introduction. Lily's cheeks burned at the nickname but she dismissed it and walked over to Twinkle, kneeling down in front of her and shaking her hand gently. 

"It's nice to meet you Twinkle." Lily said kindly letting go of Twinkle's hand. Twinkle's face broke into a huge grin, her eyes shining with amazement.

"Miss Flower is a great and kind witch like Mr. Prongs is a wizard!" Twinkle squeaked happily and Lily blushed scarlet at the complement. James bit back a laugh.

"Thank you Twinkle. Could you tell Mum we'll be down in a few minutes for dinner?" James asked. Twinkle nodded and left the room. Lily stood up, walking over to her trunk and putting her wand away once more. She then turned and walked over to where James was sitting on her bed, curiosity shining in her eyes.

"She calls you Mr. Prongs? Isn't that your nickname from the Marauders?" She asked curiously. James only nodded and then changed the subject.

"Let's go down to dinner. You need to eat, and I'm hungry." He said grinning.

"I'm not hungry." She said quietly looking down, but her stomach growled giving her lie away. James smirked.

"Sure you're not hungry." He said winking at her. "Now are you going to come and eat? We can do this the hard way or the easy way, it's completely up to you." He asked again.

"I'm not hungry." She repeated quietly, still not meeting his eyes. James grinned mischievously.

"The hard way it is then." He said. Lily was about to ask what the hard way was when she was suddenly swept off her feet by James and carried out of the room princess style.  Blushing furiously Lily glared up at James.

"James put me down!" She yelled. James didn't answer and kept on walking, grinning from ear to ear. "JAMES PUT ME DOWN!!" She shrieked again. She hated being carried, it made her feel weak and fragile. James just laughed as she continued glaring at him.

"Are you going to come with me and eat if I put you down?" He asked. Lily shook her head no.

"James I told you I'm not hungry! Put. Me. Down!" She repeated struggling and trying to wriggle out of his arms. James tightened his grip on her so that she couldn't free herself no matter how hard she tried. So she stopped struggling knowing it was now useless.

"Wrong answer Lily." He said smiling sweetly down at her, which earned him a death glare in return from Lily. He just continued grinning down at her and laughed evilly. He finally reached the dining room and walked in. James's mother was the only one in the dining room and bit back a laugh as she saw Lily glaring at James as he carried her and he was grinning down at her laughing evilly in return.

"Hello you two. James why are you carrying Lily?" Mrs. Potter enquired teasingly. James looked up at his mum, his face now serious.

"Lily refused to come down and eat. She said she's not hungry but she needs to eat. I saw through the lie anyways but also her stomach gave her away." He said smirking. Mrs. Potter nodded in agreement and smiled kindly at Lily.

"Of course you would see through a lie James, you use them all of the time to get out of trouble." She said laughing. James flushed slightly at his mother's teasing tone.

"Though, I'm afraid James is right about this Lily dear. You need to have something to eat and drink. Even if you just have pumpkin Juice that would be better than not eating at all. You can't go starving yourself out of grief, I'm sure your parents wouldn't want you doing that, not even for them." Mrs. Potter said gently to Lily. Lily hung her head, feeling ashamed of her childish and selfish behaviour and nodded in submission.

"I'm sorry for all of the trouble I've caused you." Lily said looking straight at Mrs. Potter. Mrs. Potter waved off the apology smiling at Lily.

"You have nothing to be sorry for my dear. You've had a very big shock today. Your dealing with it as would anyone else. I assure you your reaction is very normal." Mrs. Potter confirmed and James nodded in agreement. He then walked over to the table and placed Lily down in a chair and sat beside her.  Mrs. Potter sat opposite them and they began to eat. Lily had to force herself to eat something, and eventually she ate enough so that Mrs. Potter and James were satisfied.

"Mum you should see the ceiling in Lily's room. It's amazing." James said as the house elves cleared the dessert dishes away. Mrs. Potter arched an eyebrow in question.

"She charmed a basic muggle glow in the dark, stick on solar system to look like a real solar system when the room is completely dark." He explained.

"Should we go now then?" Mrs. Potter asked sounding intrigued.  James looked to Lily who nodded, and the three stood up and headed up to Lily's room.

The lights were still on in the room when they walked in. Mrs. Potter took out her wand.

"Nox." She said and the room instantly went dark and Lily's solar system sprang to life. The expression on Mrs. Potter's face was one of amazement and awe.

"Lily this is amazing… and you did this yourself?" she asked. Lily nodded shyly, feeling slightly embarrassed by the praise.

"Raine, there you are! Twinkle told me…" Mr. Potter's voice trailed off as he saw the reason that they were all in Lily's room.

"Where did you get this? I've never seen anything like it." Mr. Potter said, his voice sounding impressed. James answered his dad before Lily could even open her mouth.

"She charmed a basic muggle glow in the dark, stick on solar system to look like a real solar system. But it only looks like this when it's dark." James explained. Mr. Potter looked impressed.

"It's wonderful. You did a great job Lily." He said smiling, and she smiled shyly back. He turned to his wife, his expression becoming serious.

"Raine, could I have a word with you in private? We should all head off to bed anyways." He said. Raine smiled at her husband.

"It's completely fine Tobias." She replied looking at him, then turned to Lily and James.

"It's getting late, I suggest that the both of you head off to bed soon." James and Lily nodded and Mrs. Potter turned the lights back on then left with her husband, placing a kiss on his cheek and they walked away hand in hand.

James turned to look at Lily who had now sat down on her bed and was petting Iona, looking strained. As if she was not allowing her tears to flow. He walked over to her and sat down next to her placing a hand on her shoulder. She didn't look up at him, she just kept her eyes focussed on Iona.

"Lily? What's wrong?" He asked and a tear rolled down her cheek. James pulled her into a hug and stroked her hair and her barriers broke down instantly.

"Shh… Lily flower… it's going to be ok. I promise you, it will get better."

"I just miss them so much… Your parents are so much like them… I miss them so m-much..." Lily sobbed and continued crying into the fabric of James's shirt. James didn't mind. He pulled her into his lap and just continued holding her, and rocking her back and forth, gently stroking her hair.

Within an hour Lily had cried herself to sleep in James's arms. James gently picked her up and stood up. He then pulled back the covers of her bed, then laid her down on the bed. He pulled the covers over her up to her chin and she snuggled down into them, her hair fanning out over the pillows and her face. James smiled at the sight, and without thinking he bent down and kissed her softly on the lips and a smile formed on Lily's face. He blushed realizing what he had just done, but still smiled. He didn't know why he had done it, it just felt right, like he was supposed to do it.

"Sleep well Lily flower." He whispered and left the room turning out the lights and closing the door.

Iona's eyes sparkled and the jewel on her head began to glow softly as she curled up next to Lily. It was beginning and neither of them consciously realized it yet.

***Meanwhile With Mr. And Mrs. Potter***

The Potter's arrived in their room after a few minutes, still hand in hand. Mr. Potter kissed his wife briefly and she smiled at him.

"What is it you needed  to talk to me about Tobias?" Raine asked getting straight to the point of the matter. Tobias sighed and pulled a piece of folded paper out of his robes, handing it to Raine. Raine read it over and gasped. She looked at Tobias in disbelief.

"No… not her… it can't be…" She trailed off as Tobias shook his head.

"It is her Raine. We found this in the kitchen of the Evans's house when we arrived. Its signed Lord Voldemort. Lily is in danger. All because of her powers." He confirmed.

"All because she's a Moon Witch, and part of the prophecy of long ago." Raine said, tears welling up in her eyes. Tobias pulled her into a hug.

"Everything will be alright Raine, you'll see… she's a strong lass, and she obviously has James." Tobias said smirking. Raine laughed softly and nodded.

"That she does… You're right though, she is strong, she can make it… we just all have to have faith, and let her discover her power on her own." She said thoughtfully. Tobias nodded smiling and kissed Raine's forehead then the two went to bed. 

***The Next Day*** 

Lily woke up the next morning to find herself tucked in her bed, though still in her clothes from the day before. She was confused at first, but then remembered what had happened. That she had been crying into James's chest and must have fallen asleep in his arms. She blushed at the thought, feeling embarrassed. Iona nuzzled Lily's cheek purring musically in greeting. Lily smiled and stroked Iona's fur before sitting up and getting ready. 

Lily walked down to the dining room twenty minutes later in a pair of dark blue jean shorts and a green sleeveless hooded top, with her curls up in a ponytail. James was sitting at the table alone when she arrived. He looked up from his breakfast at her as she took a seat across from him. He smiled at her and she looked down shyly.

"I'm sorry about last night James. I didn't mean to…" Lily started but James interrupted her.

"Lily you have nothing to apologize for. It's completely fine. I didn't mind at all, really." He said seriously, though smiling at her. She looked up at him.

"Thank you James." She said in a whisper that could barely be heard. James grinned widely at her. Food suddenly appeared in front of her but she didn't start to eat. James noticed and frowned, concerned. 

"Lily you need to eat. And don't say that you aren't hungry." He said meaningfully. Lily looked at him sheepishly. That had been exactly what she was going to say. She then slowly began to pick her way through her breakfast under James's every watchful gaze.

They both finished their breakfast when Mr. Potter walked into the room, his face serious, though kind.

"Good morning." He greeted them.

"Good morning Mr. Potter." Lily said.

"Morning dad." James said waving slightly. Mr. Potter turned to Lily.

"The funeral will be tomorrow at 2 pm. Again I am deeply sorry for your loss Lily." Lily nodded, holding back tears that were now stinging her eyes and threatening to break free from her control. James's heart wrenched as he looked at Lily and he wanted to go to her, but stayed where he was.

"Also, the ministry is having their annual social ball in two weeks from today. Both of you are expected to be there, each with a partner, or you could both go together." He said winking at James who flushed pink, though Lily didn't take any notice and didn't really hear what Mr. Potter said, she just stared at her plate. 

"I have to go to work now but I'll see you both later on." With that Mr. Potter apperated to the ministry. As soon as he was gone Lily got up and left the room without saying anything to James. As soon as she was out of his sight the tears began to flow, and she ran up to her room. James got up and ran after her. He knew she shouldn't be left alone right now. As he ran up to her room he suddenly thought of something. Neona, Sirius and Remus still didn't know anything about what had happened the other day.

_'Lily probably needs Neona, at least, to talk to. Neona's known her longer, and they're best friends… maybe Lily just needs another girl to talk to right now…' _ He thought to himself as he reached Lily's room and walked in quietly. Lily was laying on her bed with her face in her pillow, with Iona nuzzling her gently and he could hear muffled sobs coming from her. He walked over and sat on the side of her bed, and rubbed her back soothingly.

"Lily would you like me to go get Neona, Sirius and Remus? And tell them what happened?" James asked softly. Lily turned her head to look at him and nodded slowly after a moment. He smiled and got up, walking over to the fireplace that was opposite Lily's bed.

"Incendio." He said and flames rose up out of nowhere in the fireplace. He took a pinch of green powder out of the sack beside the fireplace and threw the powder on the flames, stepping into the fireplace.

"Foxes Den!" James shouted and he was instantly spinning rapidly through the floo network. James soon stumbled out of Neona's fireplace and into her kitchen. Neona, who had just been walking into the kitchen at that moment looked at him shocked and confused as to why he would be there so early in the morning. (It's 10:30am)

"James what are you doing here?" She asked completely confused.

"Yeah James, why are you here?" Sirius's voice came from behind her. James looked up to see Sirius and Remus now standing behind Neona. James shook his head to clear it.

"I came here because I need you all to come back to my place." He said. Sirius arched an eyebrow in question.

"Why James?" He asked. James took a deep breath.

"When I took Lily home yesterday we found the dark mark hovering over her house." He said. Neona dropped the plate she was holding and it crashed to the floor, her mouth hung open in shock. Sirius and Remus gasped.

"No… it couldn't have…" Neona trailed off shocked. James looked at them sadly.

"Believe me. I wish I was lying but I'm not. Lily's parents were killed in the attack, but the house was still intact. Petunia wasn't there when the house was attacked so she's still alive." James said bitterly. "Lily's staying with me, she had nowhere else to go, not that was safe. Lily's not doing well. She goes from coping slightly to crying with the slightest mention of her parents, which is completely understandable. My dad told her the funeral would be tomorrow at 2pm and about the ministry ball in two weeks. Dad went to work and then Lily ran out of the room. She broke down as soon as she was out of sight from me. I went after her and asked if she wanted me to go get you guys and she only nodded. Then I came here." James finished.

"We're going now." Neona said and threw a pinch of floo powder on the fire and stepped in. "Phoenix Grove!" She shouted, and was gone. Sirius and Remus looked at James, still in shock from what he'd told them.

"James could you tell us everything that happened? Well in more detail anyways?" Remus asked. James nodded.

"I will, but we need to get back to my place so that I can show Neona where Lily's room is." He said, a note of anxiety in his voice. Sirius and Remus noticed this and nodded. Then the three floo'd back to the Potter Manor.

Neona was pacing back and forth, waiting impatiently for the three to arrive. James, Sirius and Remus finally tumbled out of the fireplace one after the other, five minutes after Neona had arrived.

"Well? Lets go!  I need to see Lily!" Neona said forcefully, her voice anxious. James only nodded and headed towards Lily's room. The others followed closely behind him. The four reached Lily's room after a few minutes. James opened the door to find Lily sitting on her bed stroking Iona's fur gently, tear tracks streaking down her ivory cheeks, though she had stopped crying. Neona pushed past James nearly knocking him over and ran to Lily.

"Lily! Are you ok?" She asked franticly. Lily looked up at her, her face was blotchy and her eyes were red from crying. "Oh of course you're not! Oh Lily I'm so sorry!" Neona said and wrapped Lily up in a bone-crushing hug. Fresh tears began to roll down Lily's face. Sirius and Remus walked over as well, each giving her a hug once Neona had let go of her.

"I'm so sorry Lily." Remus said meaningfully.

"So am I." Sirius echoed. "But you'll make it through this." He said giving her a reassuring grin. Remus nodded in agreement.

"Yeah remember what I told you yesterday. You have all of us and we'll help you through it." James said sitting on the bed next to Lily and hugging her around her shoulders, pulling her into his side. She nodded and leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder, feeling more secure with him there. Sirius, Remus and Neona, each raised an eyebrow in question, which went unnoticed by Lily and James. Neona, Sirius and Remus each shared a knowing look with one another.

"James can I talk to Lily privately for a while?" Neona asked. James looked over at her and nodded, ten released Lily. He stood up and walked over to Sirius and Remus.

"We'll be in my room which is at the end of the hall on the left, ok?" James said smiling at Lily. Neona and Lily nodded in understanding. With that the Marauders left Lily's room, closing the door behind them. Neona turned to Lily.

"Will you tell me everything that happened in detail. James only gave a brief summary because he wanted to get back to you as soon as possible." Neona said smiling suggestively at her. Lily didn't notice, but nodded, trying to keep herself from crying anymore.

Lily began to explain everything that happened from the moment she and James had left the magical creatures shop. She finished explaining everything a half an hour later. Neona was completely horrified that Lily had had to see her parents dead in the middle of the living room, and outraged at what Petunia had almost finished saying. She wasn't surprised that Mr. Potter had told Lily to stay with them, and her mind made an absolute conclusion when Lily told her how James had been there for her and comforted her. Lily had been completely embarrassed to admit that she had cried herself to sleep in his arms the night before and that James had put her to bed. Neona had to bite back a small laugh at Lily's embarrassment and hugged Lily as she finished telling her what had happened.

"I can hardly believe you've been through this much in just one day! You're lucky James was there." Neona said and Lily flushed slightly pink nodding.

"I don't know what might have happened if he hadn't been there. I don't even know how I can repay him for all he's done." Lily said quietly. Neona smiled at her.

"You know you don't have to repay him-" She started but Lily cut her off.

"But I want to do something. He's done so much for me… there's got to be something I can do for him." She said, her voice determined. Neona smiled, Lily was amazing and so strong…

"I have an idea." Neona said suddenly as an idea popped into her head. Lily looked at her interested and Neona began whispering her idea to Lily who became intrigued.

                                      ****Meanwhile with Sirius, Remus and James****

The three Marauders soon arrived in James's room. Sirius and Remus both sat on the edge of James's four-poster bed. James just stood in front of them, while they looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to tell them what had happened exactly.

"Well? We need details here." Sirius said impatiently after a few minutes of silence. James ran a hand through his unruly hair nervously before answering.

"Well you already know the basics of what happened right?" He asked and Sirius ad Remus nodded, waiting for James to continue. "Well as you know Petunia wasn't there when Lily's parents were attacked. She came back home about fifteen minutes after we found Lily's parents dead in the living room. Petunia began shrieking at Lily, calling her names and blaming everything on her." Sirius and Remus noticed James's eyes flash with anger at the memory of this. 

"I didn't even let her finish spitting out her venom at Lily. I don't think I've ever been that mad at someone, even Snape or Malfoy. She ran off after I told her not to even think of saying that it was Lily's fault, that Lily had murdered her parents because it was and still is complete bull." Sirius and Remus stared at James in utter shock.

"Petunia didn't accuse Lily of murdering her parents did she?" Remus asked in disbelief, completely outraged at the thought. James nodded.

"She did." He said. Remus and Sirius's faces looked murderous.

"That sorry excuse for a muggle just bought herself a one way ticket to torture, Marauder's style. No one does that to Lily. Lily's never done anything to deserve that type of blow." Sirius said punching his fist into his hand. Remus and James nodded in agreement.

"We'll be doing something to Petunia alright, but not until after the funeral is over, understood?" James said seriously. When the other two didn't answer right away he added.

"For Lily's sake. I don't want her to have to bare any more pain. The funeral needs to go along smoothly, I don't want to ruin it for her." Sirius and Remus nodded in understanding, their expressions softening.

"Don't worry James we won't do anything until after the funeral is over." Remus said.

"So what else happened? I mean can you explain more about how Lily's been doing?" Remus asked.

"The change has been really hard on her, because everything has happened so fast. Once my dad got there he told us to go pack Lily's belongings into her trunk using magic to shrink everything to fit. It took us about half an hour. She didn't want to leave but she knew she had no other choice and she didn't want to be left alone. She was completely amazed with her new room. I helped her unpack and then Twinkle came up and told us dinner was ready. Lily didn't want to come down and eat, she said she wasn't hungry but her stomach gave her away. When I asked her to come down again she still refused and insisted she wasn't hungry. So I ended up carrying her down to the dining room with her yelling at me to put her down and sending me death glares the whole way down. I just smiled down at her and refused to put her down. She kept struggling but I tightened my grip on her so she couldn't move and she eventually gave up and settled with glaring at me." James said smirking at the memory. Sirius and Remus laughed at the image of this that was now playing in their minds.

"After dinner we showed my mum the ceiling in Lily's room-"

"Why?" Sirius interrupted.

"Lily charmed a basic muggle glow in the dark solar system, that sticks on the ceiling, to look like a real one, which moves around the ceiling when the room is completely dark." James answered.

"Can we see it later?" Remus asked interested. James nodded.

"Lily probably won't mind. But anyways, after a few minutes dad came in and asked mum if he could talk to her privately and they left hand in hand. Lily was instantly reminded of her parents and tried holding back tears. I asked her what was wrong and she broke down instantly. I held her as she cried and comforted her as best as I could. She cried herself to sleep within an hour. I picked her up and put her into her bed. And-" James blushed, remembering what he'd done.

"And what?" Sirius prompted wondering why James was blushing. Remus looked at him curiously as well, waiting for his answer.

"And I kissed her softly after I tucked her in." He finished quietly. Sirius and Remus smirked exchanging a look with each other.

"Really? Now why would you have done that?" Sirius asked suggestively, trying to get James to realize and admit why he'd kissed Lily. Sirius was also trying not to laugh, he'd never seen James this shy about anything.

"I don't know." James said running a hand through his hair. "She just looked so… so…" He trailed off, his face burning.

"So…" Remus prompted also trying not to laugh at the look of utter embarrassment on James's face. James sighed.

"So… beautiful. She looked like an angel." James said quietly, looking right at them. Sirius and Remus smiled at him, their theory confirmed.

"I just don't understand it. Something just made me do it. It just feels like I need to be with her. Without her I feel like there's something missing…" James put his hand over his heart. "I just want to make her forget about the pain, I want to see her happy, smiling and laughing…and I don't know why…" He said looking at the floor.

"James, we can't tell you why you feel like that… but we do have a small suggestion for you that might cheer Lily up a bit." Remus said carefully. James looked up at him.

"What is it?" He asked, immediately interested. Sirius grinned.

"Well you know that Ministry Ball coming up in two weeks from now?" He asked. James nodded, still clueless as to what they were trying to get at.

"Ask Lily to go with you!" Sirius and Remus said in unison, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. James's eyes went wide and his face flushed a darker red.

"But she'd never go with me. She's-" James started but Sirius cut him off.

"Prongs buddy, you never know until you try. Ask her tomorrow after the funeral, and after we pull the prank on Petunia. I bet she'll say yes." Sirius said and Remus nodded in agreement. James looked doubtful. Sirius and Remus both shook their heads, both thinking along the same lines.

_'The poor love sick puppy… he doesn't seem to get it.' _They both thought.

"Ok… I will…" James said sounding scarred out of his wits. Sirius laughed along with Remus. 

"Come on Prongs! Buddy! Where's your Gryffindor bravery and courage?" Remus asked laughing. James looked down sheepishly.

"It dies the minute I think of asking Lily… She's too good for me, she deserves much, much more…" James said looking depressed. Sirius shook his head still laughing, then became completely serious (no pun intended!).

"Why don't you let Lily decide that? Don't shoot yourself down before you even try." He said. James nodded in submission after a few minutes. Remus and Sirius shared a victory grin.

Suddenly a mischievous glint appeared in Sirius's eyes, and he rubbed his hands together.

"Now onto operation revenge on evil muggle sister." He said laughing evilly. James and Remus laughed, the mood lightening and then the three began planning what the were going to do to Petunia for what she had said to Lily.

**_A/N: PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!PRETTY, PRETTY PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!_**


	4. The Funeral and the Ministry Ball

_A/N:__THANK YOU TO ALL OF MY REVIEWERS!!!!!I LOVE YOU ALL!___

_Ok, I've been getting a lot of reviews telling me that I have lots o f grammar mistakes. Please do not keep telling me that. I KNOW I have lots of them, mainly because I never check over the chapters after I write them. Also my grammar skills suck :P hehehe but anyways I do appreciate all the reviews I am getting :D and I'm not trying to be mean about the grammar comments, it's just that I already know and I haven't had time to go back through all my chapters for any of my stories to fix the mistakes. Besides, they're not MAJOR mistakes, just mainly punctuation and missed letters like pleas instead of please. But I do promise to try and fix the mistakes but I'm not perfect and I know about them, and I'm also warning you ;), that I will miss some._

_But anyways I'll quit going on about all of that. I hope you enjoy this next chapter I made it nice and long for you! Now I'm expecting lots and lots of Reviews ;) Enjoy! And Please Review!! Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Please!!!!!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Harry Potter…. My fairy godmother died early this year so currently I am not J.K. Rowling though I wish I was… maybe I should go looking for my magic lamp… it's got to be around here somewhere…. Oh Bloody Hell it's broken! I give up! By the way… Oh wait! My imagination granted me a wish!! I own the idea of the Jóia __Maine Coon species (Iona) and all other characters that you don't recognize such as Neona!! Go me!!_

            CHAPTER 4: THE FUNERAL AND THE MINISTRY BALL

James woke up early the morning of the funeral, feeling slightly nervous. Sirius and Remus were going to make sure that he asked Lily to the Ministry Social Ball today, one way or another. The thought of asking her, and her obvious refusal to his invitation, made him feel like his heart was going to be torn apart and shredded into a million pieces. James got up and got ready, dressing in plain black robes, because he would be changing later into muggle clothing for the funeral.

He began walking down the hall towards Lily's room. He stopped outside of Lily's door and paused; the door was slightly open. Curious as to why, James looked inside to see that Lily wasn't there. The bed was made, and there was no trace of her having slept there.

_'Where could she be?'_ He wondered starting to feel a little worried, and continued walking downstairs towards the dining room. Passing the sitting room on the way down he noticed a small figure with curly red hair cuddled up on the couch in a sleeveless lilac nightgown. It could be no one else but Lily, and James sighed with relief.

James walked into the sitting room quietly, careful not to wake her. As he walked around the chair she was cuddled up in, getting closer to her, he noticed she was holding a thick muggle notebook against her chest. The cover was charmed a sparkling Gryffindor red, trimmed with gold and had gold writing on the cover. James looked closer to read what it said.

**_'Cherish life for as long as you have it,_**

****

**_ Cherish the sun, moon and stars as long as they shine bright in the sky._**

****

**_Cherish the land, with all of its children,_**

****

**_Cherish the waters that surround the land, with all of its beautiful creations._**

****

**_Cherish the heart that beats inside you and always allow it to guide you,_**

****

**_Cherish the true love that only a few ever discover in their lifetime, for it will last forever and never die._**

****

**_Cherish the moments and the miracles that catch you by surprise._**

****

**_Cherish the gifts and talents you are given and strive for the best, never letting your spirit die.'_**

****

**_(A/N: The poem belongs to me. It's original, I wrote it. Just so you know :D)_**

Then beneath the poem it read:

**_'Writings of the Lily Flower, By Lily Evans.'_** James just stood there, shocked, and awed at the beautiful poem on the cover. He didn't know how long he just stood there staring at her, but suddenly Lily's eyes began to flutter open as she stirred. James quickly shook himself out of his trance and knelt in front of her, smiling. 

As Lily completely opened her eyes she jumped, startled, as she saw James's smiling face in front of her. Lily felt heat beginning to rise in her cheeks as she realized how she was dressed and that she wasn't in her room.

"Morning Lily flower." James said softly. She looked away shyly.

"Good morning James." She answered quietly. James couldn't stop himself, he had to ask her about the poem.

"Lily did you write that poem on the cover of your book?" He asked curiously. Lily's head snapped up and her eyes went wide as she looked James in the eye. She nodded slowly, looking slightly nervous and embarrassed. James was looking at her utterly impressed.

"You never cease to amaze me. It's a beautiful poem. Is there anything you can't do Lily flower?" He asked curiously with a hint of teasing in his voice, though he was completely serious. As far as he knew there was nothing that Lily couldn't do. To James's amazement and joy Lily chuckled softly and nodded her head, smiling at him, her embarrassment ebbing away slowly.

"What is it then?" James asked anxious to know what it was that she couldn't do. Lily just shook her head looking amused.

"That's for me to know and you to never find out." Lily answered her voice mysterious. She then blushed red, as she remembered what it was, jumped up and ran up to her room leaving James to wonder what it was that Lily couldn't do.

Lily returned back down to the dining room after showering and changing into a pair of black shorts and a grey t-shirt. Her hair was pulled back into a tightly woven French braid that reached just below the middle of her back. James was just sitting at the table not doing anything. Lily walked in and sat down at the table, across from him. He looked up and smiled at her as she sat down.

"Hey Lily flower, are you ready to eat?" He asked. Lily groaned but nodded, knowing that there was no point in trying to get out of it. Twinkle came into the room smiling, her eyes shining brightly as she saw Lily and James.

"What would Miss Flower like for breakfast?" Twinkle squeaked. Lily smiled as she looked down at Twinkle.

"Could I just have about half the amount of a full breakfast." Lily asked kindly. Twinkle nodded vigorously.

"Of course Miss Flower, anything you want!" Twinkle replied, then turned to James.

"Does Mr. Prongs want his usual breakfast?" Twinkle asked looking at James. James smiled and nodded, then Twinkle snapped her fingers and the food appeared in front of them, as well as a pitcher of fresh, cold, pumpkin juice and two goblets already filled. James dove into his food instantly, obviously very hungry in Lily's opinion. Lily picked up her fork and began to eat her food as well. 

Just then two owls swooped into the dining room, each carrying a letter. Bryn dropped the letter she was carrying into Lily's lap, and the beautiful tawny owl dropped its letter into James's lap. Lily pushed her plate aside and picked up the letter from her lap and turned it over. She saw the wax seal and smiled as she realized it was from Hogwarts. Something in the back of her mind told her that it was heavier than previous years but she paid no attention to it. She opened the letter and poured the contents out of the envelope, and onto the table. Two sheets of paper fell out along with a shiny badge much like her prefects badge, only just a little bit bigger. She picked it up and gasped as she read the words 'Head Girl' on the shiny new badge. She then unfolded the first piece of parchment and began reading it.

**_Dear Miss Evans,_****__**

****

****

**_I am very pleased to inform you that you have been selected as Hogwarts new Head Girl for your upcoming year at Hogwarts. Your new duties will be given to you when you arrive at Hogwarts at the start of term. My congratulations on this well deserved position. We will see you on the first day of school_**

****

**_ Minerva McGonagall_**

****

**_Depute Headmistress_****__**

****

Lily was in complete shock. She had never thought that she would be picked as Head Girl. Not in a million years would she have thought it, but none the less it had happened and she was happy about it.

James looked at Lily's face. At first her face held a shocked expression but it soon held one of happiness and excitement. She was truly smiling. The smile even reached her eyes, which it hadn't done in such a long time. He loved to see her smile, it sent a wave of warmth over his body every time.

James turned his attention to his own letter, which Hoshi had dropped, in his lap. He knew right away it was from Hogwarts but didn't pay any attention to the weight of the letter. He ripped open the envelope and spilled the contents out onto the table. He was surprised to see a badge fall out, but didn't look at it. Instead he opened the first piece of parchment from the envelope and began to read it.

**_Dear Mr. Potter,_****__**

****

****

**_I am very pleased to inform you that you have been selected as Hogwarts new Head Boy for your upcoming year at Hogwarts. Your new duties will be given to you when you arrive at Hogwarts at the start of term. However you managed to pull off this one Potter is beyond me. But none the less my congratulations on becoming Head Boy and we will see you on the first day of school._**

****

**_ Minerva McGonagall_**

****

**_Depute Headmistress_**

James just blinked at the letter. _'Was this a joke?' _He wondered. He picked up the badge that had fallen out of the envelope. It read 'Head Boy'. James dropped his head into his hands. He'd never live down the shame. Then he thought for a moment, an idea dawning on him. Being a prefect had never stopped him from doing pranks and getting into mischief, so why should being Head Boy? If anything it was going to be an advantage to the Marauders. Who was the Head Girl though? He'd have to be working with her a lot, but the letter didn't say anything about who she was.

"James?" Lily's voice broke through his thoughts. He shook his head and looked at her.

"Yes Lily flower?" He asked.

"Why do you look like the Quidditch World Cup has been cancelled?" She asked sounding concerned, yet there was a teasing note in her voice. James just stared at her for a moment before bursting out laughing. She just looked at him completely confused.

"Do I really look that depressed?" He said chuckling. Lily nodded smiling slightly. "No, I was just thinking, that's all. I got something extra in my Hogwarts letter." He said. Lily raised an eyebrow in question. 

"Funny, so did I. What did you get?" She asked curiously. James blinked a few times and then mentally smacked himself. Of course, who else would be more qualified to be Head Girl? Lily was the top of the class at Hogwarts, she was probably the Head Girl.

"Oh nothing much." James said casually. "Just the position of Head Boy… that's all." James laughed as Lily's mouth dropped open in shock.

"How did you manage to pull that off?" She asked completely shocked. James just laughed.

"You know that's the exact comment McGonagall put in the letter." James said and Lily laughed.

"Can you really blame her?" Lily asked teasingly and laughed as James's mouth dropped open at her comment. 

"Hey! That was an unfair blow!" James said pouting and pretending to be hurt. Lily just laughed at him.

"So now will you answer my question?" He asked. Lily nodded and held up the badge from her letter. James's grinned widely as he read the words 'Head Girl' on the shiny new badge.

"Now didn't I tell you that you'd be Head Girl?" He asked. Lily just chuckled.

"Yeah you did. But I didn't believe you at the time." She said truthfully. James just grinned.

"Oh well. It just means that you'll be spending a whole lot more time with me this year." He said. Lily groaned, pretending to look like it was going to be torture.

"Why me? What did I ever do to deserve this torture?" Lily asked, trying to keep a straight face, but couldn't do it and burst out laughing. James laughed along with her. Mrs. Potter came into the room just then with Mr. Potter and James and Lily stopped laughing and smiled at them.

"What are you two laughing about?" Mr. Potter asked curiously. Though he was quite happy to see Lily smiling for a change. James answered his dad before Lily could even open her mouth.

"Oh nothing much Dad, just Lily complaining because she'll have to work with me a lot this year at Hogwarts. Her exact words were 'Why me? What did I ever do to deserve this torture?'" James said. Mr. And Mrs. Potter laughed.

"Now why would she have to work with you a lot this year?" Mrs. Potter asked curiously.

"Oh just the mere fact that the Head Boy and Girl have to work together on just about everything…" James said grinning. Mr. And Mrs. Potter's mouths dropped open in shock.

"You mean that you and Lily…" Mr. Potter started and James nodded.

"Congratulations!! But how on earth did you pull that one off James?" Mrs. Potter asked. Lily and James looked at each other and then started laughing.

"You are the third person to ask me that exact question. What is it with everyone asking that question? Is it really that surprising?" James asked pretending to look miffed. 

"Yes!" They all said in unison laughing and then continued on with their meals.

*********************************************************************

The day flew by quickly and before James knew it, it was quarter to two and they had to leave for Lily's parents' funeral. James was waiting by the fireplace with his mum for Lily to come down. A small noise sounded from the stairs and James turned to see Lily standing at the base of the stairs, with her gaze cast down to the floor. James's breath caught in his throat as he looked at her. She was wearing a black, shimmering, spaghetti-strap, muggle sundress, which went down to just past her knees, hugging her body's' curves loosely. Her shiny red curls were pulled into a loose half ponytail by a gold clip and she was wearing tiny gold hoop earrings, as well as a small Celtic cross on a fine gold chain. She was breath taking.

_'I'm not worthy of her… she really is an angel…'_ He thought and then pushed those thoughts away as he remembered what Sirius had told him. To not give up before he had even tried. Mrs. Potter hid a smile as James stared, completely entranced by Lily. She then leaned close to him.

"James dear, quit staring at Lily, it isn't polite. Also we need to go now, it's almost time for the funeral." She whispered teasingly. James flushed pink and walked over to Lily.

"Are you ready to go Lily flower?" He asked as he reached the spot where she was standing. She nodded and they walked back to Mrs. Potter who took out the port key they would be using. They all touched it and were instantly transported to just outside of Lily's home, where the funeral was taking place. The tree walked up to the front door and went inside.

The house was full of friends and relatives from her mothers' side as well as one or two from her father's family. James and Lily spotted Neona with Sirius and Remus and walked over to them. Mrs. Potter went in search of her husband. Neona hugged Lily when she stopped in front of her and whispered something in her ear, Lily nodded smiling slightly. Sirius and Remus pulled James aside after they had each given Lily a friendly hug.

"How is Lily doing today?" Remus asked curiously. James smiled slightly.

"I got her to laugh this morning… She's only just starting to heal, it's going to take some time but she'll get better." He said. Sirius and Remus smiled, the news was encouraging. Then James changed the subject slightly.

"Is everything ready?" He asked. Sirius grinned evilly and nodded. "Good. After today Petunia will regret the day she began insulting Lily." He said and then the three Marauders rejoined the girls and headed outside for the funeral.

Lily was trembling as she walked towards the back yard. James noticed and slipped his hand into hers, squeezing it gently and smiling at her. Her nerves relaxed instantly and they all entered the back yard. Out of nowhere someone stepped in front of them and their path was blocked. They all looked up to see none other than Petunia and a large beefy man with light brown hair and beady eyes whom Lily had never seen before but assumed must be Petunia's boyfriend Vernon. Petunia just stood there and glared at Lily with disgust.

"So you showed up after all, you pathetic little witch. And you brought your freakish friends along with you. Come to see the results of your freakish handy work?" Petunia asked looking accusingly at James and Lily. James's eyes flashed angrily, as did Sirius, Remus and Neona's eyes. James opened his mouth to say something but Lily stopped him. Letting go of his hand Lily faced Petunia, glaring at her dangerously and anger visibly radiating from her. Petunia backed up a step.

"Don't you even think of accusing James, or me for that matter, for mum and dad's deaths." Lily said, her voice dangerously calm. The Marauders and Neona's eyes went wide with shock as Lily advanced on Petunia. None of them, not even Neona, had ever seen Lily this mad. Mad enough to unleash her temper full force.

"It's not my fault. It's not James's fault. We did not kill them. Voldemort, or rather, his minions, his Death Eaters, killed them. Now get out of my sight you pathetic excuse, you disgrace of a muggle. I never want to see you again." Lily finished in the same dangerously calm tone. Petunia's eyes showed that she was scared but she didn't back down from Lily. Bad idea.

"It is your fault you freak. And that things' fault." She pointed to James. "So stop denying it." Petunia spat venomously. James stepped forward angrily but Sirius and Remus pulled him back.

 That was it. Lily could deal with being blamed by Petunia, she was used to it. But Petunia had now gone too far. She had blamed James, and it had struck a nerve that Lily didn't even know she had. Lily pulled out her wand  muttering the undetectable spell. Then pointed her wand at Petunia.

"Densaugeo!( curse which causes the victims' teeth to enlarge grotesquely) 

Cornu-lingua! (conjures a horn on the target's tongue) 

Piperis-adflo! (This charm gives a person fiery hot breath)" Lily cast the three spells on Petunia before anyone could even blink an eye. Petunia stumbled back and Vernon caught her. Outraged she opened her mouth to say something.

"Silencio!" Lily yelled and no sound came out of Petunia's mouth though she was trying to talk. Vernon stepped in front of Petunia, shielding her from any more attacks that might come, and glared at Lily with a look of disgust.

"You freak of nature, how dare you! Working your devilish ways a normal, innocent girl!" Vernon roared swelling like a bullfrog. "You put her right this instant! or I'll-"

"Or you'll what Vernon?" Lily asked pointing her wand at him threateningly. Vernon backed up slightly, scared of what she might do to him. Lily toyed with her wand looking it at it fondly for a moment then turned her eyes back to Vernon.

"I'll set her right before I leave, just as long as you both stay out of my way until then. Understood? Or else I won't change her back. Now get out of my sight." She said in the same dangerously calm voice. Vernon just glared at her, not willing to risk getting cursed, and dragged Petunia away from Lily and her friends. The Marauders and Neona just stared at Lily completely shocked and impressed at the way she had handled the situation.

"Wow… Lils… that was… wow… you were scary… remind me never to tick you off." Sirius said after a minute and the others nodded in agreement. Lily just hung her head and they all witnessed a single tear drop to the ground. Neona walked over to her and pulled her into a hug, whispering complements and comforting words into Lily's ear. James turned to the other Marauders and mouthed that the prank was off, at least for now, they'd do something else another time. Lily had scared Petunia enough to make a lasting impression and James didn't want to upset her any more than she already was.

"Let's go sit down." Neona said turning to the Marauders. They nodded in agreement then walked over to the chairs and sat down, and the funeral began. Lily had silent tears streaming down her cheeks and nearly squeezed the life out of James's hand to keep herself from crying. He took no notice of it though. He knew that it was hard for her and he'd do anything to make her pain ease a little more. His mother could always fix the broken bones in his hand later.

James and Lily headed back to the Potter Manor just after 6pm. Lily had taken off the curses and charms from Petunia only an hour before they had to leave, because they had to sort out the will. Petunia had been given the house and what ever else she wanted from it. Lily had been given all of the photo albums as well as all the money the Evans's had in the house and the bank. Lily had also received her parents' wedding and engagement rings, which were family heirlooms. James helped Lily bring back the two huge stacks of photo albums, putting them away in her room. Mrs. Potter had told Lily that she would have Mr. Potter change all of Lily's money into Wizarding gold and move it into an account of her own at Gringotts. James then led Lily downstairs for dinner. They ate in silence. Lily had been silent ever since they had gotten back and James just let her be, he knew she just needed some time to adjust.

When Lily was done eating she got up and left the room without even looking at James. The reason was she was ashamed of herself, for the way she had acted towards Petunia and Vernon, even though they had both deserved it. She decided that she needed some fresh air to clear her mind. She changed out of her dress that she'd worn to the funeral and into a pair of jean capri's and a dark blue, long sleeved, hooded top once she was in her room and then walked out onto the balcony, leaving the door open.

She gazed out over the gardens below and over towards the forest that lined the back of the manor. The new crescent moon hung over the forest, casting a glowing silver light over the dusk sky. She smiled at the beauty of it. Then a pure white unicorn emerged out of the woods and onto the plain of grass, and started to graze. Lily gasped at the beauty of the unicorn and continued to watch it in awe.

"They're beautiful aren't they?" A soft, deep voice said from behind her. Lily jumped startled by the voice, and turned around to see James standing behind her, looking slightly nervous.

*****Before, With James*****

James watched Lily leave the table without a word or a glance at him. His heart sunk. _'Was she mad at him? Had he done something to upset her?'_ He wondered and got up from the table. James walked into the sitting room and sat down in the chair in front of the fireplace putting his head in his hands.

"Prongs? What's the matter?" James looked up to see Sirius's head in the fireplace and then looked down again without answering.

"So have you asked Lily yet?" Sirius asked. James shook his head no.

"She's been really quiet ever since we got back home. She hasn't even spoken to me or barely even glanced at me." James said sounding torn. Sirius shook his head and looked at James sympathetically. 

"Neona has an idea of why that might be. She's sitting right beside me listening. Anyways, Neona thinks that Lily is feeling ashamed of the way she acted at the funeral, even though Petunia deserved what she got. Lily has never been that mad, ever. Neona says it was the first time Lily's ever lost her temper completely, though it's not too hard to see why." He said.

"What can I do? I don't want her beating herself up over it, it wasn't her fault. I-" James started but Sirius cut him off.

"Prongs buddy, I can't tell you what to say, because I don't know what to say, but I suggest that you go talk to her. And I also suggest that you get up the nerve to ask her to the Ministry Ball. I know you want to ask her, so just gather up your Gryffindor courage and do it." Sirius said. James sighed, blushing slightly and nodded. Sirius was right, for once in his life.

"Ok. I'll talk to you tomorrow Padfoot." James said and Sirius grinned and then vanished from the fireplace. James stood up and walked up to Lily's room. He reached Lily's door and taking a deep breath, knocked on the door and waited for her to answer. After a few minutes there was still no answer, so he quietly opened the door and walked into the room. He looked around the room and didn't see her, then noticed the balcony doors were open and walked over to them and out onto the balcony quietly. Lily was leaning against the railing, looking out towards the forest where a single unicorn was grazing under the light of the moon.

"They're beautiful aren't they?" James asked softly. Lily jumped and turned around to face him. She looked at him for a moment before nodding and turned back around to look out at the unicorn again. The unicorn had now stopped grazing and ran back into the forest. Lily turned to go but James grabbed her hand gently, though firmly, stopping her. Lily stopped but didn't look up at him.

"Lily flower did I do something? What's wrong?" His voiced edged with concern and nervousness. Lily looked up at him shocked. _'Why would he think he'd done something? And why does he look so nervous suddenly?'_ Lily wondered as she met his warm brown eyes.

"You didn't do anything wrong James." Lily said slowly. "I did." She finished quietly. James shook his head no.

"You did nothing wrong Lily. You put Petunia in her place. You also took off the curses and charms instead of leaving her to suffer. If she had been in your place she wouldn't have. You didn't sink to her level. You're better than her." James said seriously. Lily smiled at him after a moment, he was right.

"Thank you James, for everything." She said and moved closer to him, then standing on tip toe kissed his cheek, but ended up kissing his jaw due to his height. James blushed, which puzzled Lily.

"Lily can I ask you something?" James asked, running a hand through his unruly hair nervously. Curious to what he wanted to ask her Lily nodded. James gulped and tried to get the question out without stuttering or making an absolute fool of himself.

"Will you go to the Ministry Ball with me?" He asked quickly, his voice full of hope. Lily stared at him, completely stunned by the question. _'Was that why he had been so nervous? And why would he want to go with me? Wouldn't he want to go with someone prettier?'_ She wondered. James looked away after a moment and started rambling.

"You don't have to. I mean, if you wanted-" Lily silenced him by putting her index finger to his lips, and blushing furiously, answered his question.

"Yes, I'd love to go with you." She said shyly. James's heart stopped for a moment out of surprise.

"Really Lily flower?" He asked in disbelief. He'd never thought she would actually say yes to him. She nodded, her eyes shy. James's face broke into a huge grin and he picked her up and spun her around and kissed her quickly on the cheek, leaving her dazed and blushing furiously.

"Goodnight Lily flower!" He said and practically skipped off to bed.

Lily walked back into her room, still in a daze. Laughter suddenly shook her out of her dazed state and she looked over to the fireplace to see Neona's head in the flames chuckling at her.

"So what just happened, might I ask?" Neona asked curiously. Lily turned scarlet as she explained everything. Neona shook her head chuckling at her.

"But why would he want to go with me? I mean there are so many other girls that are much prettier than-" Lily started but Neona cut her off.

"Lily hon., there is no one more beautiful than you, and don't you dare think of telling me there is. And did you ever think hat maybe James doesn't go for the looks? I mean he's never dated anyone, ever, and he's had hundreds of girls throw themselves at him. You don't do that to him, you're just always yourself and you don't go out of your way to make him notice you." Neona said logically. Lily just looked down sadly.

"I'm not good enough for him, he deserves more." She said quietly. Neona resisted the urge to burst out laughing. Just barely.

"Lily it's just a dance, but even still, let him decide that. Plus, I think you are good enough for him, and don't you ever doubt it." Neona said seriously. Lily just nodded obediently. Neona grinned satisfied. She'd have to tell Sirius and Remus this one, James and Lily were so much alike it was almost scary.

"Now. We'll go shopping for dress robes with Mrs. Potter next week, and we'll get our school stuff there as well. I'll see you soon. Goodnight!" And Neona was gone.

**Night of the Ball**

The weeks passed quickly and before Lily knew it, it was the day of the Ministry Ball. Lily was a nervous wreck. Mrs. Potter and Neona had taken her to Diagon Alley two days before to shop for school supplies, but more importantly, dress robes.  It had taken them all day but they finally found the perfect dress robes for Lily. Mrs. Potter had not allowed Lily to pay for them, or the matching cloak, shoes and jewellery to go with the dress robes. Lily had also not been allowed to show anyone else, especially James, her new dress robes, keeping them a surprise for the Ball. 

The dress robes were a shimmering midnight emerald. The collar, sleeves, and bottom of the robes and skirt were lined with gold as well as teardrop-shaped sparkling emeralds and most importantly the dress robes fit her perfectly, it was as if the dress robes had been made specifically for her.

It was 5pm and they were leaving by port-key at exactly 6pm. Lily sighed as she looked at the clock after stepping out of the shower, she'd have to finish getting ready now so that she would finish in time to leave. She proceeded to get ready, changing into her dress robes her hands shaking with nerves. She took out her wand and set her hair in its natural state, half of her curls pulled up into a loose half ponytail with a single ringlet, that refused to be pulled back, framing the right side of her face. Then she carefully applied her makeup, the muggle way, then put on her jewellery, lastly putting on a thin golden Celtic tiara that had a single emerald in the center of the intricate knot work. Lily stared at herself in the mirror, hardly recognising herself. Purring and the feeling of soft fur rubbing against her arm brought her out of her shock. Looking down she smiled at Iona who was looking up at her adoringly. Lily reached down and scratched Iona's ears.

"So how do I look? Am I missing anything?" She asked partly to herself. Iona looked up at Lily and grinned. Iona let out a small meow and the jewel on her forehead glowed a sparkling purple. Lily gasped as the jewels that lined her dress robes began to glow a steady emerald light and her hair now glittered with small emerald and gold sparkles. Iona purred happily admiring her work. Lily just stared at her stunned. She'd have to read up on Jóia Maine Coon after this ball. Suddenly there was a knock on her door and it opened revealing Mrs. Potter. Mrs. Potter gasped as she saw Lily. Lily looked absolutely amazing. Mrs. Potter grinned. _'James will be rendered speechless.' _She though.

"Lily you look gorgeous! I don't remember the jewels glowing like that before. Did you charm them? And the sparkles in your hair finish everything so nicely! You'll have James drooling once he sees you." Mrs. Potter said teasingly. Lily blushed at Mrs. Potter's complements.

"I didn't charm the jewels and I didn't do the sparkles in my hair either." Lily pointed to Iona. "She did. I'll have to read up Jóia Maine Coon and find out what they can do… she completely surprised me." Lily finished. Mrs. Potter smiled and walked over taking Lily's hand.

"Regardless, you look beautiful dear. Shall we go grace the other Potter men with our presence?" She asked winking. Lily blushed but nodded and Mrs. Potter led Lily out of the room and down to the Living Room.

*******Down in the Living Room With James and Mr. Potter*******

James was nervously waiting in the Living Room with his father, pacing back and forth anxiously dressed in dark royal blue dress robes, his hair as unruly as ever. Mr. Potter watched James amusedly, trying not to laugh at James's nervous state. The fireplace suddenly roared green and Sirius came tumbling out of the fireplace. James didn't even notice and just kept pacing back and forth looking at the ground.

_'He's really nervous… to not even notice Sirius standing right here in the room.'_ Mr. Potter thought trying not to laugh. Sirius didn't seem to care that James hadn't noticed him, but had a huge smirking grin on his face. Sirius stepped in front of James and stopped him from pacing by placing his hands on James's shoulders. James looked up, slightly startled, into Sirius's laughing eyes and smiled weakly at him. Sirius just shook his head, using all of his self-control to keep from laughing.

"Prongs calm down already or you're going to make her nervous. She did say 'yes' remember, so stop worrying already!" James sighed, Sirius was right, and nodded looking at Sirius sheepishly. Sirius just laughed and then grinned evilly.

"I can't image what you'd be like if you were getting married to Lily, seeing as you're already in ultimate panic mode and this is just a Ball we're talking about." Sirius said winking at James teasingly. James flushed red and felt his stomach knot even more at the thought of Lily ever marrying him and Mr. Potter laughed. Sirius gripped James's shoulder reassuringly and looked him straight in the eyes.

"You'll be fine. I'll see you there." He said and James nodded. Sirius let go of James's shoulder and floo'd back to his house. James took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down a bit more.

"Sirius is right, it'll be fine… I just have to relax…" James muttered to himself. Someone cleared their throat from the bottom of the stairs and James and Mr. Potter turned to see Mrs. Potter in elegant baby blue dress robes, her brown hair tied in an elegant knot.

"You look beautiful as always Raine." Mr. Potter said grinning widely and Mrs. Potter smiled back.

"Wow mum, you look great." James said smiling at her.

"Thank you." Mrs. Potter said warmly, and then she reached behind her and stepped aside revealing a radiant Lily, who was looking nervously down at the floor. Mr. Potter gasped as he saw Lily but smiled as he looked over at James. James's mouth dropped to the floor, his eyes went wide and his heart started beating rapidly against his chest.

"Lily you look amazing." Mr. Potter praised. Lily looked up at him and smiled shyly. James was speechless; there were no words to describe how beautiful she looked.

"You look like an Angel." James finally got out and walked over to her taking her right hand and kissing it. Lily blushed to the roots of her hair, but couldn't help smiling, her eyes shining brightly.

"Shall we go then?" Mrs. Potter asked smiling at the two teenagers; James was still holding Lily's hand and smiling at her adoringly, while Lily was blushing, though her eyes were sparkling with happiness. Mr. Potter nodded and pulled out the port key. Everyone placed a hand on it as Mr. Potter activated it and were instantly pulled to Merlin's castle on the west coast of Ireland.

James and Lily walked through the crowds and soon spotted Neona, Sirius and Remus over by the doors that led to the ballroom, and walked over to them. James and Lily's hands had now entwined tightly, though the two hadn't realized it, as they approached their friends. Neona was the first to notice them as they approached, her eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open in shock as she laid eyes on Lily. Sirius and Remus turned to see what she was looking at and their mouths dropped open at the sight of Lily.

"Wow… Lils you look beautiful!" Sirius said stunned. Remus and Neona nodded in agreement.

"Thank you." Lily said shyly. Neona glanced down at Lily and James's entwined hands and grinned. She elbowed Remus slightly and pointedly nodded towards Lily and James. Remus looked and then smiled, elbowing Sirius who looked at him strangely.

"What?" He asked. Remus rolled his eyes and then whispered something into his ear. Sirius raised his eyebrows and then looked at Lily and James, who were looking confused, and noticed their entwined hands and grinned.

"Is there anything that you two would like to tell us?" Sirius said innocently pointing towards their entwined hands. Lily and James looked to see what Sirius was pointing at and turned bright red, dropping each other's hand instantly. Sirius just laughed, and Neona and Remus chuckled.

"Let's go into the ballroom." Neona suggested winking at Lily who was still quite red. Remus offered her his arm, she took it and they led the way to the ballroom, Sirius right behind them. Lily held back nervously.

"Come on. Let's go to our table and sit down." James said smiling adoringly at her and leaned close to her ear. "You'll be fine. You're the most beautiful girl here, I'm the luckiest guy in the world." He whispered, meaning every word of it.  He offered her his arm smiling gallantly. Lily's cheeks burned from the complement but couldn't help laughing at his actions and took his arm. Together they walked into the ballroom. A they entered heads turned to stare at Lily and hushed whispers broke out around the room. Lily moved closer to James feeling slightly self conscious.  James re-entwined his hand with hers and brought it up to his lips and kissed it gently.

"I told you, you look like an angel." James whispered leaning close to her ear smiling. Lily looked up at him and smiled shyly.

"You're just saying that to be kind." Lily whispered, not meaning for James to hear her but he did. He turned Lily to face him and looked straight into her eyes.

"I'm not lying Lily and I'm not just saying it to be kind. You truly do look like an angel, everyone is staring at you because you look so beautiful." He said blushing slightly as he said it. Lily looked into his eyes… he was telling her the truth, and she smiled slightly.

"Thank you." She whispered. James smiled and squeezed her hand slightly sending shocks up their arms. James led her over to the table where his parents were sitting with another family, one member in which Lily recognized to be Malachey O'Meara and who Lily assumed was his wife and young son who looked about ten or eleven. Malachey's eyes widened in shock as he saw Lily, but smiled at her warmly. Letting go of Lily's hand, James pulled out a chair for Lily, she sat down and he pushed her up to the table, then sat down next to her.

"Hello Mr. O'Meara." Lily greeted him politely, smiling.

"Hello Lily, but please call me Malachey. Lily this is my wife Kodi and my son Ailin." Malachey said, introducing his family.

"Hello." Lily said. Kodi inclined her head and smiled kindly at Lily. Ailin grinned excitedly.

"What year are you in at Hogwarts? I'm just starting in September." Ailin said enthusiastically.

"I'm going into my seventh year. What house do you want to be in?" Lily asked treating him like an equal. Ailin's grin grew wider.

"Gryffindor!" He said proudly. Lily chuckled.

"A very good choice. That's the house James and I are in." Lily said gesturing towards James who was sitting beside her. Ailin grinned.

"Is he you're boyfriend?" Ailin asked curiously. Lily and James went scarlet but didn't get a chance to answer.

"May I have your attention please!" Mr. Potter's voice rang out across the ballroom and the chatter died down instantly. "Welcome to the annual Ministry Social Ball. I hope you all enjoy your time here tonight. Now let the dinner begin." He finished and food appeared on the tables. The chatter started back up again and the feast went underway.

"Do they know who the new Head Boy and Girl will be at Hogwarts yet Tobias?" Malachey questioned. Tobias grinned.

"They're sitting with us." He answered gesturing towards Lily and James.

"I'm going to die from the shame of it." James said hanging his head, pretending to look shamefaced, then looked up and winked at Lily and everyone laughed.

"But then again, I get to work with Lily flower so it can't be all bad." James said smiling fondly at Lily. Lily just shook her head laughing.

"Merlin help me! What did I ever do to deserve that kind of torture?" She asked smiling teasingly at James who pretended to look hurt, but failed miserably and joined in with everyone laughing.

The food and dishes were soon cleared away and the lights were dimmed as the band began to play the first song of the night. Couples began walking out onto the dance floor and dancing to the waltz that was now playing. James froze, his nerves returning full force. Mr. Potter gave him a small nudge, shaking James out of his petrified state. He turned to Lily who was looking out onto the dance floor smiling. James followed her gaze to see what she was looking at and saw Remus dancing with Neona, talking and laughing. James smiled, they looked good together. James took a deep breath and tapped Lily on the shoulder and she turned to him still smiling.

"W-would you like to d-dance?" James asked nervously.

"S-sure." Lily said just as nervous as James. James stood up and extended his hand to her. She took it trembling slightly and praying she wouldn't do something stupid like trip. He pulled her up and together they walked onto the dance floor. A slow song started once they were on the dance floor. Lily's heart started to beat faster. James gently lifted her arms so that her hands rested on his shoulders, with slight difficulty due to the height difference, and he bent slightly as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

*******Beginning of Song Fic Part*******

**_Jump5   
Angel In My Heart _****__**
    
    ****
    
    **_I heard a whisper that touched deep inside my soul_**
    
    **_Like some familiar melody_**
    
    **_A hidden chapter from a story left untold_**
    
    **_I gotta feeling, I could believe in_**
    
    **_(Chorus)_**
    
    ****
    
    **_There is an angel in my heart_**
    
    **_Feels like I'm guided by a candle in the dark_**
    
    **_It's taken all this time_**
    
    **_To finally find out what I could never see_**
    
    **_An angel in my heart_**
    
    **_You were there 4 me_**
    
    **_Now there is no doubt that there will always be_**
    
    **_An angel in my heart_**

James and Lily spun slowly on the spot, their body's swaying slowly to the music and their eyes locked on one another. Their faces were glowing. James was in heaven; he was dancing with and angel, and he never wanted to let her go. With her in his arms he felt complete. A familiar, yet unusual feeling was arising in him, something he couldn't quite describe, or place what the feeling was. His heart was telling him, shouting it at him, but he still didn't understand it or believe it. He didn't want to lose her ever… but she was too good for him… his nagging doubt arose but James shoved it away into the back of his mind and tightened his grip on Lily's waist, pulling her closer to him. He was surprised when he felt her wrap her arms around his neck, and smiled down at her. She smiled back at him, her eyes shy.

Remus and Neona watched Lily and James as they danced. Remus held Neona close to him as they swayed slowly and gently to the music. He looked down at Neona smiling shyly.

"You really do look beautiful Neona." Remus said leaning close to her ear and whispering. Neona blushed at the complement but smiled brightly back at Remus.

"You don't look too bad yourself." She whispered back, causing Remus to blush slightly. Neona just grinned happily and rested her head against Remus's chest, sighing with happiness. 

"Lily and James seem to be doing pretty well, they've moved closer together but they're still being shy with one another." Remus said after a moment. Neona looked up at him and then looked over to Lily and James, her heart warming at the sight. She turned back to Remus.

"Well they've gotten closer, which is a good sign. They just have to realize their obvious feelings for each other. I mean… everyone except them sees that they're perfect for each other… they're so alike it's scary." Neona said chuckling slightly. Remus smiled and nodded in agreement.

"I think they both know it… they just don't believe it's possible. They'll realize the truth of it soon enough though." He said. Neona nodded and then rested her head back on his chest. Then Remus rested his chin on the top of her head and just let the music take over, forgetting about everything else for a moment.
    
    **You were the friend, you were the one I could confide in**
    
    **You gave me strength that I could never find**
    
    **deep emotions that's I've always been denying**
    
    **I believe in, its so close now, its you that**
    
    **I'm feeling**
    
    **There is an angel in my heart**
    
    **Feels like I'm guided by a candle in the dark**
    
    **It's taken all this time**
    
    **To finally find out what I could never see**
    
    **An angel in my heart**
    
    **You were there 4 me**
    
    **Now there is no doubt that there will always be**
    
    **An angel in my heart**

Lily listened to the lyrics of the song, thinking of how much they related to her life at the moment; she looked up into James's deep brown, smiling eyes and her heart warmed instantly. He had been there for her, standing by her side through even her worst and saddest moments, never judging her for her reactions, just telling her everything would be ok when she needed to hear it the most. He was always there for her to talk to, and never once turned her away when she needed something. They had grown to be good friends over the summer, growing closer and closer together. But her heart was whispering something to her, telling her there was more than friendship there if she would only open her eyes and her heart.  She felt safe and secure with James's arms around her, as if nothing could hurt her. Lily sighed and laid her head on his chest, wrapping her arms tighter around his neck.

James felt Lily's arms tighten and her head rest on his chest and tightened his arms around her waist pulling her closer, until there was no space between them, and rested his chin on the top of her head. He couldn't understand it; she fit so perfectly into his arms, but why?

_'You were made for each other. You love her with all of your heart and soul.'_ His heart whispered to him. James mentally shook his head no.

_'That can't be the reason, could it? And where is this voice coming from?'_ James wondered. The idea had struck a nerve, sparking his thoughts, and making him think about it.

_'Could that be the reason? Was that voice speaking the truth?'_ he wondered as he and Lily continued swaying to the music. 

_'Was that the reason that he never felt complete unless she was close to him? Why he was so torn when she didn't talk to him or look at him. Why he hated to see her cry, sad, hurt or scared? Why he loved to hear her laugh and see her smile. No, it couldn't be. Could it?'_

_'Stop denying it… open your eyes and heart to the truth.'_ The faint voice whispered once again. James lifted his head and looked down at Lily. Her eyes were closed and she was snuggled into his chest, a smile playing on her lips. She looked so peaceful, so beautiful… Maybe… No… it wasn't possible, but for now he would just enjoy holding the beautiful angel in his arms, even if this was the only time he ever got. With that James rested his chin back on the top of her head, smiling happily and let the music carry him away.

Neona lifted her head off of Remus's chest and glanced over at Lily and James and giggled at what she saw. Remus turned to see what she was giggling at and grinned at what he saw.

"How long do you think it'll take them to have their first kiss?" Neona asked looking up at Remus. Remus chuckled, his eyes dancing, knowing something that Neona, and even Lily, didn't. Neona's eyes narrowed as she saw the look in his eyes.

"You know something I don't. Don't you?" she asked accusingly. Remus put on an innocent look but she saw right through it.

"I'll tell you later, I promise." Remus said, then reached up to brush a strand of hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear and cupped her cheek gently in his hand. Neona leaned into his palm and looked up at him, feeling slightly shy. Remus just stared into her eyes for a moment, gently caressing her cheek with his thumb. She closed her eyes, sighing happily, a smile playing on her lips. Without thinking, Remus leaned in slowly and placed his lips on hers in a sweet, gentle kiss. Her lips were soft and moist and she smelled of Honey and blueberries.

Neona was surprised at first but instantly melted into the kiss, kissing him back. They broke apart after a minute, smiling shyly at each other. Neona kissed his cheek and then rested her head on his chest once again. Remus smiled and kissed the top of her head, resting his chin on top of her head.

Sirius watched the two couples from his table and grinned. Remus and Neona would work things out fine but he wondered how long it would take Lily and James. They were so much a like it was almost frustrating that the two didn't see it, but they were perfect for each other and they would realize it soon enough. Meaning tonight if Sirius had anything to say about it.

Mrs. Potter leaned back into her husband who had his arms around her waist, hugging her from behind. Mr. Potter kissed her cheek lovingly and she smiled happily.

"They look right together don't they Tobias?" Raine asked. Tobias chuckled.

"Yes they do, and they'll realize it soon enough. I know I did at their age." He said and Raine smiled, laughing.

"That you did, after some, well actually a lot of, prompting from your friends." She said teasingly. Tobias tickled her ribs playfully making her squirm, and then turned her around to face him smiling at her lovingly.

"They did that, as Sirius and Remus are doing for James. Everything will turn out fine, as it did with us." He said and kissed her lovingly. They soon broke apart and headed out onto the dance floor.
    
    **Finally found what I been searching for**
    
    **(All my life)**
    
    **It was right before my eyes**
    
    **Oh you are my angel**
    
    **I know you'll always be there**
    
    **You are my one and only angel**
    
    **To finally found find what I could never see**
    
    **(You were there for me)**
    
    **Now there is no doubt that there will always be**
    
    **An angel in my heart**
    
    **There is an angel in my heart**
    
    **Feels like I'm guided by a candle in the dark**
    
    **Its taken all this time**
    
    **To finally find out what I could never see**
    
    **An angel in my heart**
    
    **You were there 4 me**
    
    **Now there is no doubt that there will always be**
    
    **An angel in my heart**

(Song Ends) (song sung by Jump5, it's a really nice song :D)

The song soon ended and Lily and James pulled back from each other reluctantly. The band was now playing a faster song. James looked down at Lily; her beauty was almost overwhelming for him. But it wasn't just her beauty on the surface. It was her personality and her gentle, caring ways that had first captured his heart; it was what he loved about her. Wait a minute. Love? James shook himself mentally trying to clear his head. No girl had ever captured his attention like this, by being herself. Lily did all of it without even knowing it. The truth suddenly hit him full force. He was falling in love with Lily. He just hadn't realized it until now.

"Do you want to go outside for a bit?" James asked suddenly. Lily looked up at him and smiled.

"Sure, it's a bit too warm in here, I think I could use the fresh air." She said. James grinned and took her hand, and led her out onto the large balcony. Sirius noticed Lily and James heading out onto the balcony and started to follow them but Neona pulled him back into his seat before he could really go anywhere.

"Let them be alone for a bit Siri. It's up to them how things work out, and you can always get details from James later." Neona said.

"But…but…"

"No buts." Neona said firmly. Remus chuckled and pulled her into his lap.

"But I wanna see what happens!" Sirius whined. Neona just shook her head and Remus laughed.

"Another time Padfoot, let Prongs be alone with Lily for a little bit. He's nervous enough as it is. The last thing he needs right now is to find out that he's got an audience." Remus said. Sirius sighed defeated.

"Fine." Sirius said pouting and sitting down in a huff.

*******************************************************************

Lily and James walked out onto the balcony. The balcony was completely deserted and James's stomach was tying itself into a thousand knots from nervousness. Lily wasn't doing much better as she realized they were completely alone out on the balcony. They walked up to the railing and looked out over the ocean that lay below them. The stars and the moon seemed to be even brighter than usual, but why, Lily didn't know. They stood there in silence for a few moments just looking out across the water and watching the waves crash against the rocks and wall at the castle base.

"Are you having a good time here at the ball Lily flower?" James asked after a few minutes of silence. Lily looked up at him, inclining her head slightly. The moon's rays shone over her ivory skin illuminating her features, making her eyes sparkle like the jewels on her dress robes. James's breath caught in his throat, and his heart began to race as he looked down upon Lily.

"Yeah I am." Lily answered him though she got no response. Then she noticed James staring at her, and began feeling slightly self-conscious.

"I truly meant what I said earlier Lily flower. You look like and are an angel, you are truly beautiful." James said truthfully. Lily blushed looking down shyly then looked back up into James's eyes.

"Thank you." She whispered. James smiled at her, looking deep into her sparkling emerald eyes. Then they found themselves leaning forward, pulled by an unknown force, closer until their lips were inches apart, their eyes fluttered closed and James captured Lily's lips in a tender sweet kiss. Sparks ignited as their lips connected, surprising them both, but they didn't pull away. Lily was completely shocked but melted into the kiss and kissed him back. A million emotions ran through Lily and James, but one stood out among all of the others. Love. James and Lily broke apart after a few minutes, both blushing furiously.

"J-James I-" Lily started but James put a finger to her lips, silencing her instantly. She looked at him, her eyes showing love and fear. As she looked into his eyes she saw an emotion that had been there since the beginning… but she hadn't recognized it until now, but didn't believe it was really there, it wasn't possible. Was it?

"Lily… I… Well I…" James ran a hand through his hair, though kept his eyes locked with Lily's. "I'm… I'm in love with you…" He said quietly. Lily looked at him in shock, not believing what she had just heard.

"W-what?" Lily stuttered.  James sighed, he needed to get this out.

"I'm in love with you, the kiss just confirmed everything I didn't truly believe. It opened my mind and my heart to what was already there. I love everything about you, even your fiery temper that you hide so well. I love seeing you smile and hear you laugh. When you're sad I want to make you happy, take away what ever is hurting you. You always put others before yourself. You're beautiful in two ways, both on the inside and out. You're also brilliant, and quite adorable because of your shyness, yet incredibly strong. You captured my heart without even trying. I love you with all of my heart and soul. " Lily continued to look at him completely stunned, everything starting to sink in slowly. His eyes showed that he was telling the truth. James waited for a few moments, then looked down, feeling like his heart was gong to shatter into a million pieces at any moment if she didn't say something.

"I know you deserve much better than me but I-" Lily covered his mouth with her hand, cutting him off from his rambling. He looked up at her and saw her eyes reflecting the same emotion that was in his own. He blinked, not believing what he was seeing.

"Can I tell you something?" She asked. James nodded.

"You've been there for me always. Every time I needed you, you were there. You never let me give up hope, and kept me going forward instead of allowing me to sit in my sorrow. You always find a way to make me smile or laugh when things look bad." James looked at her confused, not really knowing where this was going.

"Do you want to know why I lost my temper and turned on Petunia like I did?" James nodded and Lily took a deep breath.

"Petunia didn't just attack me. She  accused and insulted you, after all that you had done for me. After you had been kind and caring towards me, taking me into your home to live with you. You had held me when I cried, never leaving my side for a moment when I needed you. I've grown to love you too, and I guess I always have, but I always thought that you deserved someone better than the quiet, boring and shy bookworm that I am." She finished smiling at him sheepishly. James's face lit up with a grin as everything sunk in.

"You aren't boring Lily flower. You're anything but boring. Shall we call it even then Lily flower?" He asked teasingly, yet his voice held a strong sense of hope. Lily let out a small giggle and nodded smiling. James moved closer to her and leaned forward slowly, and placed his lips on hers once more. He snaked his arms around her waist, pulling  her closer to him, while her arms encircled his neck.

The kiss was slow and tender as they explored each other's lips. They broke apart after a few minutes, but kept their embrace, hugging each other tightly, savouring the feeling of each other's closeness.

"We should go back in before they wonder what we're dong and come looking for us." Lily said after a few minutes. James nodded knowing she was right. Entwining her hand with his they walked back into the ballroom. As soon as they entered the doors locked behind them with a snap, as did all other doors leading out of the ballroom, and then the room went black.

**_A/N: Wow… that was a really, really, really, really, really long chapter… I doubt any of the others are going to be this long… but on average they'll be about 5000-6000 words :) hehehe and I know I'm evil leaving you on a cliffy! Muhahahahahahahahahah  *cough* *cough* hahahaha! Anyways, I'll have the next chapter up in about a week from now, hope you enjoyed the chapter and don't forget to REVIEW!!!!!!!!!! PRETTY, PRETTY, PRETTY, PRETTY, PRETTY PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_**


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